#the event was small. like literally just one row of vendors.

[skunkes]

Need to get to the point where i can drive by myself, FAST!!!! NEOWWWWW

[redheadspark]

Hawwu could i suggest 11.character not being able to even fathom or come close to understanding how someone can dislike such a beautiful ray of sunshine and oh yeah ok…. they’re def in love with Druig

A/N - Hawuu! I think this is perfect for our mind controller! Thanks for requesting this, dear friend :)

Sunshine

Summary - Druig wasn't always a ball of sunshine, but another Eternal was.

Warnings - Just some fluffiness with a bowl of sunshine ;)

Druig had a reputation among the humans as being the "Aloof God"

It wasn't that he was always brooding, he just had a lot of things on his mind. He had to, being the Mind Controller of the Eternals he was always looking for solutions aiding the humans and keeping them safe. He was no fighter with his fists by any means, but he was a fighter of the mind. Yet the humans would only see him scowl every once in awhile, deep in thought when he would help with new rows of crops or re-roofing some of the homes in the village. Whispers came and went of his Aloofness, someone not to trifle with or cross, yet Druig never cared.

When Druig was more of a rolling fog, another Eternal was more of a ray of sunshine

You were an Eternal who could literally harness of the energy of the sun, solar energy within a snap of your fingers. You used it to bring light in the dark, as a weapon against Deviants, and to bring life into crops and soil for the humans and their farming. The humans saw you as a literal beacon, your smile matching your solar energy that resting in your palms within a millisecond. The bright yellow armor you wore matched the brightness of your soul, it was infectious in all you spoke you. Even Ikaris would crack a smile when you were around and joking with Gilgamesh or Thena.

So for anyone else to see Druig smile when you were close by, they would think of it as a miracle.

It was rare though, sometimes only the Eternals would see it for themselves since you and Druig would be separate throughout the day with your chores. But when you two were together, it was almost like seeing a cosmic event unfolding in front of the others.

First it was Sersi who saw it, you and Druig sitting together out on some green grass by the Domo as the sun the setting. She was walking by with Ikaris, you both laughing about something Druig said. Sersi saw you throw your head back and Druig's smile ever etched on his face as he was watching you laugh.

Then it was Gilgamesh and Thena, witnessing you two snickering with one another as Druig was teasing Phastos with one of his newer inventions. Druig meant well, but it was making you giggle and Pahstos huff from the antics. Then could have sworn she saw a glimmer in your eyes as Druig rolled his own eyes.

Kingo saw you two walking together in the market one early morning, you wishing to get the best fruit for Gilgamesh and for yourself and Druig tagging along. As Kingo was getting his own trinkets, he saw Druig politely talking to one of the vendors and gathering some fruit to give to you, a blush was there on yoru cheeks as Kingo smirked.

Sprite and Phastos saw you two read together in Phastos's Lab, a small safe haven away from the ruckus of the others that were out and about. You both were tucked against the wall on the seat, yoru feet locked together in the middle as you paused to look up at Druig. He thumbed to another page, eyes drilled to the passage and not wishing to tear your eyes away. Sprite saw it first, your eyes looking at Druig with the smaller smile that meant more.

Lastly, Ajak saw it herself clear as day. You both were talking to the humans, Druig mostly was. He was speaking to one of the Elders about a potential construction problem with one of their temples. Druig was listening intensely, taking in all the Elder had to say as you stood behind him and watched on.

Ajak saw it, the look of adoration on your face as Druig was consoling the humans. She never said it, but she knew what it was:

Love.

Love seemed so simple to have, The Eternals saw it everyday amongst the humans and their families. Kind gestures, words of affirmation, acts of service, it was all there for the humans to use amongst one another. Love was also complex and deep, when one soul was bound to be woven with another, one being do all they could to bring another being joy.

Ajak loved love, and to see it blossom between two of her own was a blessing.

Of course Sersi and Ikaris were in love, though they were more coy about, but you and Druig seemed to have love as well. You saw the goodness in Druig, the goodness and the need to help the humans that outweighed and outshined the others. When the others would scoff or look over Druig and his antics, you stood by him and brought him stability and kindness.

Druig saw the same in you, how you would light the room with your eyes and the stories you would tell. The lingering hugs he would give you, the closeness of shoulders when you at together through a meal or a meeting, and the ever longing look he would give when your back was to him.

It the obvious to others, but oblivious to you both.

"Ajak, when will they ever realize it?" Kingo had to ask once when he stood with Ajak, the pair of them watching you and Druig walking together along the beach and in deep conversation. Ajak could only smile.

"In due time, Kingo. All in due time,"

The End.

Valentines Prompt Session

Tagged: @a-lumos-in-the-nox @basicrese @virtueassassin @hottpinkpenguin @botanicalbarnes

[nullfolknews]

Nullfolk Newsletter - April 23rd, 2023

Like the "ba-dumf, ba-dumf" of a new-born’s heart, another week comes marching into our lives. Hello, Nullfolk.

This last week began with a bit of a shaking up. On Monday, a charming, precious, little hill troll emerged from beneath the hill in the easternmost edge of town. Literally no one expected there to be, of all things living beneath this hill, a hill troll! Right beneath that hill that no one is allowed to go near. The one so unsuspecting that we barely ever notice it anymore. The one that is, apparently, cordoned off by glowing purple and yellow ropes and beads so that no thing that breathes air may even stumble close. The one that, as though in a photo, just looks like a big, blurry mound far in the distance. You know the one. The one next to the sign that says “Danger! Hill Trolls Live Here.” We here at the Nullfolk Newsletter were simply in disarray at the news because no one, and I cannot stress this enough, no one could have expected these events to unfold.

The hill troll did, in fact, give a name; but us as humans have long lost the parts of our ears that can process those sounds. We have opted instead to call him Herbert. He gave the following statement:

“I have seen it,” said Herbert, frantically, as he bounced on his adorable little hill troll heels, “The sea will drink the sky, and the sky will eat the earth, and the earth will suckle the stars.” The little cutie pie then began to carve adorably cryptic ruins into the walls of the local vape shop, formerly known as the library. We were worried about the owner’s feelings, but the hivemind of teens that run this microbusiness seemed to be more enticed than perturbed by the cool new decals on their storefront.

The mayor has, however, chased Herbert back beneath the hill with a broom and instructed us to pretend that it never happened. So, of course, in keeping with our wonderful mayor’s iron fisted demands, we implore you all to disregard the entirety of what you have just read.

And on Tuesday, the same day on which our visiting stranger went to the docks, we celebrated free street food day. A day in which all street food, legally, must be free to every single customer. Unfortunately, that one esoteric religion that all street vendors seem to follow also had a holy day that coincided with the event so they all went on a retreat and no one got their free street food. This has been the seventeenth year in a row that this coincidence occurred. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next time.

Then, on Thursday, was an event that I’ve been waiting my whole life for. The time capsule was finally opened! In truth, this event means the world to me. Ever since learning of the time capsule, it had become my dream to write and publish a weekly newsletter so that I could inform the public of the wonderful things therein. And finally, here we are.

Thursday morning, bright and early. The dew still sat on the grass as we gathered in droves. Our hearts beating, our breaths bated. Anticipation boiled in our stomachs as butterflies danced between knots. A small stage had been erected behind the plaque that marked the burial spot of the time capsule. The mayor and all his cool friends gathered around the plaque with their shovels and began their arduous task. The mayor broke the earth, and they all toiled away. The smell of freshly turned dirt and the sounds of grunts filled the air as the time capsule was, bit by bit, unearthed. They stopped only to wipe the pooling sweat from their brows before continuing to work. After hours of digging, the capsule was fully exposed. They then all hinged forward and, with perfect deadlifting technique, pulled the capsule from its resting place.

The capsule was pulled onto the stage in full view of the audience. It was a perfect three-foot metal box stained a reddish-brown with images and phrased intricately carved into its sides by the steady hands of a master craftsman. We have not yet been permitted to share the exact details of these carvings in permanence with the public, but we can say that they were really, really cool.

The mayor then took an ornate key from his jacket’s inner pocket. It was a key passed down from mayor to mayor at their time of election, which most believed to be purely emblematic. With a shaking hand, the mayor placed the key into the front keyhole of the capsule. The audience stared on in awe. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. The mayor then lifted the lid of the capsule and began to pull from it treasures of the past.

There were many pieces of dishware and tapestries. Bits of arts and craft made by children who, by now, would have aged out of living were also found in the capsules. An old tome carrying a dark and somehow hungry aura was also in there. The most interesting of all, though, were the photos of our ancestors. Farmers and grocers, ice cream men and inhalant peddling hiveminds, hairdressers and newsletter writers, just like us, only dressed in older fashions. It’s truly incredible how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Many letters had also been written for the descendants of those citizens from oh-so long ago, which were all shared out to their rightful owners.

As the capsule was closed, Carl Shepard sat again in his little chair from which he had protected the capsule through the years. He closed his eyes for the last time.

That aside, here is your five-day forecast:

In the following days, the void will grasp onto the debris of a crumbling earth. It will squeeze the remnants of former lives into stars and hang them in the sky for young love to flourish beneath. The void hopes that these young lovers remember to buy new lines for their gas tanks.

In the week ahead:

We can expect to hear or see nothing about hill trolls as I remind you that the thing that happened on Monday absolutely did not happen. Genais McDowell has announced a press conference this coming Wednesday, which should give the press lots of time to find something to conference her about. The mysterious stranger who is wearing yellow pants at the time of you reading this is considering attending.

And so, another letter has come to a conclusion, as all things should and will. The lovely noise that should keep you company hereafter is Da Yu by Zhou Shen.

[nadineeb]

CRAZY RICH ASIANS -  MOVIE REVIEW

Hi dears! It’s me again. After my tech review, I’m navigated to this 2016 movie -  Crazy Rich Asians which came from the first book of its trilogy novel. This is always at the top of my list and my favourite movie. Hope you’ll enjoy this movie review as it feels like you’re watching it when you’re really just reading. All credits goes to the owner of the photos and GIFs. Thank you so much!! Enjoy it as much as I do. 

- XOXO, Nads <3

New York City - Rachel Chu, a young, lovely, part-timer economic professor who dates for over a year now, a hunk, eye-turner, history professor, Nick Young, at New York University. Rachel already introduced Nick at their family dinners but since Nick's family are from Singapore, he hasn't presented Rachel formally to them.

Nick's closest female cousin, a double - heiress in her family, an icon in the fashion industry, had already chatted with Rachel. She's the only one that has known her cousin's girlfriend. Astrid was always busy with the Paris' fashion week, shopping spree every week, buying ancient jewelries that costs a fortune and building her own family with her only son and her husband who's also busy gaining investors in his technology business. 

(Astrid down below)

Being that it's Araminta and Colin's wedding, Colin, who happens to be Nick's bestfriend and cousin since their diaper days. Colin wants him to come home for he is his bestman in his wedding. He wants to take this chance for Rachel to meet his gigantic family and have her experience his childhood in the country where he grew up. It's also a great opportunity for her to visit her college bestfriend, Peik Lin , who always asks her to come to Singapore where she lives.

Excitedly, Rachel asks his mom for help with what dress will she be wearing when she meets his boyfriend's Ah-ma (grandmother in Chinese) during the family dinner to welcome the guests of the wedding. She forcibly agrees when her mom tries to get her wear the red dress. Her mom says that red is a color of good luck in Chinese traditions and also a little bit more of a plus point from Nick's Ah-ma though she also got a pure Chinese blood but grew up in America which promotes an entirely different culture.

Amazed by their First Class seats and soft silk pair of pj's given by the airlines, Rachel couldn't contain her happiness while sipping on their glass of champagnes on their flight to Singapore. Astonished as she seemed, she nags Nick on why he can afford the First Class tickets to a country miles away from them while Nick uses her Netflix password. He admits that they are living "comfortably" which what exactly a member of a crazy rich family says.

As soon as they land in Singapore, Araminta and Colin, the soon-to-be wedded couple was there at the airport with balloons in their hands and joy in their auras. After introducing them to Rachel, they plan to eat Newton Food Centre, a place where they serve delicious street foods especially laksa curry and satay bowls from street food vendors which gained Michelin stars.

Right before the Nick's family welcome dinner, Rachel visits Peik Lin in her house which everything is brilliantly gold-plated and was inspired by the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. While catching up over their food for lunch, Peik Lin's mom interrogates her about her coming to Singapore. When she said that it's for the wedding of his boyfriend's bestfriend Colin, Peik Lin's family were shocked, they said that it is the wedding of the year and even them having that rich, they aren't invited to the wedding. It seems like Rachel didn't do a research at his boyfriend's family!

Peik Lin also warned Rachel that the Youngs are kind of snobbish that would belittle a commoner. She would not let Rachel wear that little red dress to the dinner so she gathered all of her fancy clothes and choose the best for Rachel to wear.

The Youngs - migrated in the 1800's to the small island of Singapore from their main land, China  with a vast amount of fortune. They started real-estates business until this family became most probably the landlords of Singapore.

Nick escorted Rachel and Peik Lin to his Ah-ma's house which is the largest, most beautiful house that Rachel didn't expect to see. A house that Nick and Astrid grew up in. A house that has lots of wings that you'll probably get lost once you enter the wrong one.

Finally, Nick introduces Rachel to all of his cousins. Nick's mom, Eleanor, is busy in the kitchen scrutinizing every detail of the food to serve to their guests. When the couple went down to the kitchen, Rachel thrillingly hugs Eleanor which made Eleanor uncomfortable around Rachel. That is why Rachel immediately concluded that Eleanor doesn't want her for his son.

In the middle of the garden, sits a fragrant Tan Hua flower which usually blooms fully once a year, a great opportunity for the guests to see this once in a year. While waiting for it to fully bloom, Nick introduced Rachel to his Ah-ma, surprisingly, she likes Rachel the moment they talked in Chinese. She said that Rachel should come back to the mansion when there are no more craining necks so that she can teach Rachel how to make their family's traditional dumpling recipe which was passed to generations.

The Bachelor and Bachelorette's  Party where Nick and Rachel's love was tested. The Bachelor's party is located literally in the middle of the ocean, filled the cargo-like ship with sexy girls and men that is enjoying the scenery. As they are talking about anything under the sun and with the influence of alcohol, some men questions Nick on Rachel's details. Though the men want to know more about Rachel, Nick went hot-headed as the men start to sexualize his girlfriend. He decides to leave the ship that day with Colin, the bachelor, to an island with a small wooden floating house and a raft.

On the other hand, Rachel met Nick's ex-girlfriend, Amanda, in Araminta's Bachelorette party at a private island. She did not know that Amanda wants to be friends with her so that she and her mean friends can pull off their plans and that Rachel would want to leave. Their plans succeeded, while crying Rachel went to her villa to get her things and leave, she bumped into Astrid. They two found that Rachel's bed was covered in tuna's blood with a tuna head at her headboard.

That incident led to them to the seashore talking about why Amanda is like that. Astrid also opened up to Rachel how she found out that her husband is not really busy going to business trips but rather he is busy having an affair with a woman she doesn't know. It seems like the two found comfort in each other.

Dumpling day comes and also another day to test their relationship. While making dumplings, Rachel found out that Ah-ma doesn't want Eleanor for Nick's father way back then and she doesn't have the heirloom engangement ring of the Youngs since Ah-ma didn't approve of her. Ah-ma arrived at the dining table exactly after Rachel knew the backstory of Eleanor and Nick's father. Ah-ma was pleased after seeing Rachel again. She adoringly expressed her interest in Rachel's face features which made Eleanor jealous of Rachel.

On her way to the toilet, Rachel's lost in the mansion and was shocked that Eleanor found her. Eleanor talked to Rachel and frankly told her that she will never be enough for her son.

(Rachel and Eleanor Scene)

The wedding of the year came, famous business elites and the royalties attended. Rachel wore a pretty blue elegant dress paid respects to Eleanor and Nick's aunties though Eleanor doesn't want her to sit with her.

Princess Inta, who demanded a whole row of the front seats to herself so she would not be bothered by anyone, approached by Rachel who doesn't have seats, she talked about the princess' book about economics and that they have the same stand. They immediately been comfortable with each other. Escorted by Astrid, Ah-ma came and everyone was shocked at her presence. They said that Ah-ma never came to such events.

Not long after Ah-ma arrived, the grand wedding started which left everyone in awe on how beautiful the oriental, Gothic-themed was.

After the ceremony, the program continued at the Gardens by the Bay, a reception for the wedding. It was filled with laughters, everyone is having a great time dancing and enjoying the beat. In contrast with this, stands Rachel and Nick called by Ah-ma and Eleanor for the truth behind Rachel's identity. They said that they cannot let Rachel join their family for the fact that she lied to them about his father after they hired a peivate investigator. Little did they know that Rachel only found out then that her mom's husband, which all throughout her life she believed wa sher father, isnt really her biological father. Rachel walked out for she is deeply hurt by their actions. Ah-ma later then gave Nick an ultimatum. Once he leave, he can't come back. Who will he choose? His family or Rachel?

After a few days of crying, Rachel's mom found her in Peik-Lin's house and not eating. Her mom admitted that she left her husband because she was impregnated by Rachel's father and that her husband was not kind after all. She flew all the way to America to start a new life with her baby, Rachel.

Before leaving Singapore, Rachel wanted to talk to two people; Nick and Eleanor. She ended her relationship with Nick and declined Nick's offer to marry her and start a new life in New York as he will cut his ties with his family.

Rachel meets Eleanor at a Mahjong Parlour where they had a mahjong game along with two deaf players. She told Eleanor everything that had happened before she met with her and that she knew that Nick loves his family so much that even though Nick decided to leave his family for her, she couldn't stand to see Nick away from them. He is the only son that would inherit their wealth. She decides to let him go.

Also broken-hearted with her cousin Nick, Astrid decides to leave his husband for she cannot be blinded by her husband's affair. She decides to take their son with her.

Rachel and her mom are boarding the aircraft when Nick chased her to fly to New York with her.   She don't want to listen to Nick at first but when she realized what Nick's doing, she decided to  clisten to him and is completely speechless when Nick get down on one knee. Her face brightened when she saw the small box with the emerald stone ring embedded in diamonds that Eleanor wore on their engagement with Nick's father is vividly shining right infront of her eyes. She said Yes!

Them three left the aircraft to celebrate their engagement with their friends at the top of Singapore's most popular hotel - Marina Bay Sands. Ended as Eleanor genuinely smiles at Rachel as Rachel shows her engagement ring.

This movie taught me that you can’t choose who you’ll love. If you're looking for someone with the same wealth level as yours or even the same race as yours, you may never find your true love. Given the circumstances of Rachel and Nick, they don’t want their wealth status to be a hindrance in their relationship.

Though family always comes first, if it's a matter of going through what your family wants for you or going through what you want for your future family, always choose the latter. I only get one chance to live and I don’t want any regrets, so for as long as possible, if my decisions don't violate a person's right, i’ll do everything and whatever it takes.

This part below, where Rachel met Eleanor at the Mahjong Place where they talked about why Eleanor didn’t want Rachel for Nick the second she arrived in Singapore. Eleanor said that there is a Hokkien phrase “Ka ki lang” which means “Our own kind of people.” This is why the Chinese people tend to want to marry the same ethnicity as them because they want to preserve their traditions and would want to keep it going for as long as possible, which Rachel is not. Not because she is not wealthy, but because she is a foreigner, an American, although the Chinese blood runs through her, she grew up in America and Eleanor doesn’t want that.

One of the Chinese’s cultures is that they are taught to build things that last and not to feed in what they want, but in what they need. I understand Eleanor in this part because as an Asian, we are taught by these things - to prioritize our needs and build connections that will benefit us in the future. But for me, we should give respect to other cultures and not close our circle entirely. We all have different perspectives regardless of our race, that is why we should not judge one’s personality based on their race.

Rachel said that Nick proposed to him the day before and she turned him down, though Nick stated that he will stay away from his family for good. She said that if Nick would choose Rachel, he would lose his family, and if Nick would choose his family, he might spend the rest of his life resenting Eleanor.

Eleanor shows her Mahjong tiles which she thought she won, but Rachel looks at her, sighs, and says,

“ I’m not leaving because I’m scared, or because I think I’m not enough, because maybe for the first time in my life, I know I am. I just love Nick so much. I don’t want him to lose his mom again, so I just wanted you to know that one day, when he marries another lucky girl, who is enough for you, and you’re playing with your grandkids, while the Tan Hua’s are blooming, and the birds are chirping, that is was because of me. A poor, low-class immigrant nobody.”

Then she showed her Mahjong tiles and she won to Eleanor. She left the table and fetched her mother with a smile at the other table to leave the place. What a queen! Powerful. That is the best scene ever. The feels, the script, the emotions, they are just so perfect.

Astrid, my favorite character, not just she is stunningly beautiful but among all the cousins, she has the purest heart. She doesn’t want the people around her to feel that they are left out when they are with her. She wanted everything to be perfect when it comes to her family. Though her shopping spree every time she’s going to Paris fashion week is a bit overwhelming to commoners, she deserves all of it.

Astrid and I have similarities in our personalities. I’m also calm when there are problems that are coming my way. I can remain composed and I buy my time until I can find solutions to it. I remember the time when the man I loved cheated on me just like when Michael (Astrid’s husband) cheated on Astrid.

I can relate to her when she said that she’s wrong when she’s turning down jobs because Michael might feel lesser than her. I used to lower myself when I’m with him because I worry that he might feel that I’m the superior one between the two of us. But when he cheated, I realized that it shouldn’t be like that. It will be his fault for being insecure in me. Just like what Astrid said,

“It’s not my job to make you feel like a man. I can’t make you something you’re not.”

[solastia]

Break My Stride | 2

Pairing: Yoongi x Jungkook

Word Count: 3,000

Summary: Yoongi is an Omega that has managed to escape the annual mating run without an Alpha for seven years in a row. He has no plans for that to change, but he’s unaware of his latest opponent: the newly presented Alpha Jeon Jungkook, his very determined childhood friend.

Genre & Warnings: A bit of everything. Smut won’t happen until a later chapter and I will, of course, post warnings for that.

The starting line was already bustling; everyone desperate to catch a scent they liked and latch onto it like...well, dogs with a bone. He hadn’t bothered to check the numbers this year, but it had to be a record breaking turnout. He’d guess upwards of ten thousand or more, just by how many bodies he had to try to squeeze through to get here. The annoying thing was that half of them probably weren’t even running. They were just family and friends of people that were, here to show their support as the races started. Most would go home for the night and come back tomorrow. Still, they could stop acting like this was some god damn county fair, at least. There were even booth setups for merchandise and food. 

Yoongi sighs morosely and follows the sounds of Taehyung and Jimin hollering like monkeys and calling his name. Most of the group - minus Jungkook again - have all claimed their spot on a set of park benches. They made it look like they were just going to a damn picnic with tablecloths and cushions for the wooden benches. Most of them were working through some of the food the vendors were selling and Taehyung slung an arm around his shoulders as he tore into a corndog. 

“So, you excited for today? You look well prepared, hyung,” Taehyung grinned slyly since he knew full well Yoongi was certainly not excited for today. 

Yoongi ignored him and instead asked whoever would answer, “Where’s Kook? Already sniffing out his mate?” 

“No, he said that would be pointless because his mate’s a cheating cheater that plays dirty. He said the chances of them covering their scent were high. He’s making sure his den is ready,” Seokjin scoffed. 

Yoongi accepted the drink Jimin handed him and chuckled. “Sounds like I might actually like them.” 

“You have no idea,” Jin said with a snort, glancing up and down at Yoongi in a way he couldn’t decipher. But then again, he didn’t really want to since Jin thought being vague made him mysterious and therefore more attractive. 

Hint: it didn’t. 

“So where’s his den?” 

Although, calling it a “den” in this day and age wasn’t really accurate. No longer did the big bad Alpha cart you off to a hole in a mountain or a shack in the woods (unless that’s what they wanted - who was he to judge?). It was simply a place that the Alpha had bought prior to their first run so they’d have a home ready for their mate. It could be anything from a shitty apartment like Yoongi’s to some fancy house in the city. No matter what kind of place it was, as soon as an Alpha presented, they usually began working on their den. Jungkook must have known his future mate for quite a while for them to already have a den together. Jungkook usually isn’t that sly - it’s amazing he was able to keep something like this from the whole group. 

“You know that place on Rural? That monstrosity that I thought was Victorian but you said it wasn’t? That it was...Italian?” 

Yoongi’s whole world came to screeching halt as he stared at Jin, his heart pounding so hard he was sure everyone else could hear it. 

“Italianate,” he whispered, praying to whatever powers that be that Jin didn’t mean that house. 

“Yeah, that’s the one. Everyone in the family was so excited and happy for Jungkook that they basically threw money at him. He had enough to pay for the house in cash. I told him he should bulldoze it and rebuild since it’s in a great part of town, but he said his mate would want to fix it up.” 

Yoongi suddenly felt like crying, but he settled for collapsing onto the bench and clenching his fist. 

“I’ve been saving up for that house since I was sixteen. I’m going to kill him.” 

Seokjin was sporting the most annoying smirk of all time, clearly enjoying Yoongi’s misery for some reason.

“Focus on the run. You can kill my little brother later.” 

Suddenly, Namjoon growled menacingly, startling everyone. Hoseok looked over to the spot where Namjoon was steadily staring, curiosity in his gaze before it too hardened and he started glaring with bared teeth. A random city Alpha that had been approaching them instantly halted, hands out in surrender. 

“Sorry man. Didn’t know he was spoken for.” 

When the Alpha left, Yoongi looked around curiously. 

“He wasn’t coming for me, was he?” 

Namjoon blushed and squeezed the still scowling Hoseok to him, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Seokjin’s eyes were wide with shock as he stared at the pair. 

“No, he was coming for - it doesn’t matter. So...you’re looking well supplied over there hyung.” 

He decided to put the house from his mind for now and focus on the event of the day. If he didn’t and let his unhappiness cloud his decisions, he could end up with some Alpha dickwad who lived in a trailer and expected twelve kids. Yoongi patted the bulging pockets of his black jacket and matching cargo pants with pride instead, thankful that the tradition of running nude was no longer a rule. Pockets were a fucking godsend and no one wanted twigs and leaves poking their ass when some Alpha tackled them to the ground. That was also why his clothes had built in elbow and knee pads, just in case. He was prepared for anything. 

“Yup. I don’t need too much, because I might have cheated quite a bit this year, but I brought enough crap with me to wait this out for a week if I had to.” 

Namjoon studied him with narrowed eyes for a few moments before his shoulders shake as he silently laughs. 

“You totally came out and stocked up your little cave, didn’t you?” He asked, his voice shaky with laughter. 

“Hell yeah. I’m getting too old to just camp out on dirt. Fixed it up real nice so I can wait out the whole day. There’s a huge plush rug and plenty of blankets, big fluffy pillows, a little stash of food and entertainment. I even put scent blockers around so no one would smell anything coming from inside,” Yoongi preened as he thought of his perfect hideaway. 

Yoongi found it about six years ago when he’d been running from a particularly persistent Alpha. He’d stumbled across it quite literally when he’d tripped over a giant tree branch and landed facing a dirt mound against a hillside with a hole big enough for him to crawl through. He hadn’t expected much, just enough space for his small body to curl up and hide in, but the tunnel kept going until it opened up into a decent sized rock cave. Judging by the smell and some of the remnants, it used to be an actual wolf den, but it hadn’t been touched in some time. He could still remember how he’d huddled in there the first time, jumping at every sound from outside, sure he’d been found out. 

Now here he was several years later and thankfully the preserve was massive enough that no one else ever got to close to his sanctuary. This year he’d decided to experiment and see if he could sneak into the preserve to pimp it out without anyone discovering him, since being in the forest except for during the run was outlawed and came with huge fines. Of course he’d been successful since he was Min Fucking Yoongi. Maybe next year he’d try to camp out before the run even started, then he wouldn’t have to deal with anyone even trying to snatch him. 

A woman in a red pantsuit carrying a clipboard yelled into her headmic, “OMEGAS! Come sign in and get your collars!” 

The boys whooped behind him as he sighed and waved goodbye, joining the rest of the Omegas lining in front of a large set of tables. The packet of paperwork containing his information and liability forms had already been sent in weeks ago, so the sign in sheet was merely used to track your participation (and therefore following the stupid law). When you came back from the run, there was a whole different packet of paperwork to take home to fill in about your partners. 

When his turn came, he signed the clipboard and accepted the black leather collar, clasping it firmly closed as he joined the starting line. The collar was only to come off if you consented to an Alpha. Otherwise, it was there for protection. Many Alphas went a little nuts during the run and let their instincts take over, often going for a bite whether you wanted it or not. Thankfully, they were too stupid to remember the collars were made to be Alpha-proof and their teeth couldn’t get through them. Dumbasses. 

Yoongi lines up near the front, wanting to be one of the first to run as soon as the horn sounded. They always gave the Omegas and more submissive Beta’s a five minute head start, giving them a fair chance considering an Alpha’s naturally high stamina and speed. Yoongi just needed those first five minutes to get out of sight long enough to pull off his first trick. 

He scans the crowd around him trying to get an eye on Jungkook, but the lineup is so huge he can’t see anything. He was almost certain that Jungkook was an Omega - someone as sensitive as him couldn’t possibly be an Alpha. Hell, the boy used to cry if you looked at him too long. 

He glances towards the Alpha side, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He just wanted to try to subtly figure out if there was any that were eyeing him for too long or trying to sniff him out so he’d be prepared. There were a couple of city Alphas that tried to catch his eye, it seemed, but no one looked like they were zeroed in and focused on him too heavily yet. Good, this should be an easy run. 

Yoongi frowned when he swore he saw a flash of a familiar side profile before it disappeared into the rest of the Alpha crowd, but that wasn’t possible. He was just nervous, and the fact that he’d been looking for Jungkook in the first place made him see things. He was sure there were plenty of Alphas running around with those piercings and Kook’s ginormous honker of a nose. 

The countdown began and forced his attention away and back to his own predicament. He inhaled and exhaled slowly to calm himself and got into a ready position, eyes focused on the clump of trees to the left where he planned to escape into. 

The horn blared as the mating run officially began and everyone in the starting line rushed forward. Many of the Omegas around him were smiling and giggling like this was all just a fun game instead of something that could drastically change your life, and for the worse if you weren’t careful. The waiting crowd and excited Alphas behind them cheered and howled as the Omegas wove into the forest ahead. 

Yoongi quickly veered off into the more densely packed left side of the preserve, needing to get to a certain clearing before the five minutes were up. He ran without a thought besides getting there, knowing his next step is crucial to his success. 

Finally, he comes across the small stream he’d been looking for, wading right into it with the waterproof boots that he bought just for this occasion, and traveling the rest of the way through the water so his scent and tracks would be harder to catch. 

Finally, he reaches the clearing that marked the halfway point to his cave and stopped, breathing heavily as he dropped onto a boulder. He takes just a couple of seconds to catch his breath, then pulls a container out of his jacket pocket. He grins as he opens it and scoops out the contents with a finger. It has all the appearance of white slime but smells like pine trees. He spreads the goop onto his scent glands, adding a bit behind his ears and across his wrists for good measure. He takes a heavy sniff of the air around him after, smirking with pleasure as his nose picks up nothing but pine. Instead of his usual citrus scent heavily tinged with Omega pheromones, he now blended into the forest.

Cheating, yes. Brilliant, also yes. 

Confident that any Alphas that had considered chasing him would now move on to an easier target, he ran towards the direction of his cave. He was tired as hell already and couldn’t wait to get there and take a nap. Maybe he should take up Jungkook on his offer to exercise with him more, so running wouldn’t be so damn painful next year. 

He had maybe ten minutes of running left to do when he smelled it. Lavender and clove, a scent that might belong to an Omega if it weren’t for the obvious Alpha musk lending the unusual combination a mouthwatering essence. 

He couldn’t believe it. An Alpha had actually tracked him all the way here? 

Unless the Alpha was after someone else and just happened to be going this way. However, Yoongi was certain that he’d seen most of the others head away from this area. He doubted many of them would even go too far into the forest as most of them wanted to be caught. 

He heard a twig snap and the Alpha’s scent thickened in the air, like he wanted Yoongi to know he was there. He was letting Yoongi know he was there for him and he wanted to chase. His inner Omega was preening that such an amazing smelling Alpha chased him this far out, and he really wished he could physically slap some sense into it. He didn’t even acknowledge that he was thoroughly impressed that the Alpha had even tracked him with his scent covered. 

He took off, running his heart out, but away from his cave. He didn’t want this jackass to know where his hiding place was. So he ran east, trying to get back towards the stream. 

Only the crunch of leaves and twigs switched sides almost immediately, sending him back the way he came. How was this Alpha so fast? Yoongi had been chased quite a few times in the past, but it was like this one was teleporting behind him. 

Yoongi ran a little more before trying again to head towards another side of the forest. They were getting a little too close to his cave for comfort and Yoongi was starting to panic. He had to find some way to lead this Alpha away from here. 

He knew there was a lake in the northernmost part of the preserve, and near that a small mountain. He hated the water, but surely if swam towards the mountain he’d find a good hiding spot. 

Only, as soon as the Alpha realized he’d changed direction again, the pounding steps behind him changed their own path to block his way. A warning growl traveled the air, making him shiver with the need to obey and letting Yoongi know that the Alpha didn’t want him changing his course. 

He was herding Yoongi towards the western part of the preserve, like he knew that was where Yoongi had been going. Did this fucker know about his cave? 

He didn’t take the time to puzzle through that, instead heading towards his sanctuary as he didn’t see a way out of it. His lungs were burning and his legs felt like they were going to fall off, but he pushed forward. The Alpha seemed content finally, simply following along behind him at a much slower pace than he could have, out of sight but heavily scenting the air with happiness.

He wasn’t going to be so happy in a few moments. 

Yoongi could have cried he was so pleased when his little burrow came into view. He finally stopped, putting a palm against the giant pine near it to hold himself up as he gulped in much needed air. The heavy steps came closer and he knew the Alpha was about to reveal himself. Yoongi was about to show this guy that he wasn’t someone to be messed with and he wouldn’t be dragged off to be someone’s good little Omega bitch. 

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the taser he’d packed just in case. The blue light crackled ominously as he whirled around to face his opponent. 

A soft chuckle floated through the air as the Alpha walked through the trees.

“Stand down, hyung,” the voice urged gently, though filled with amusement. 

Yoongi’s jaw dropped as he watched the Alpha finally stride through the trees towards him because he knew that voice. He knew that face. He knew this person almost as well as he knew himself. 

“Jungkook?” 

[nothing-thats-all]

RWB - Outtakes and Aftercare: Extended Cut

~Hey all! As promised, I’m posting all my unfinished prose segments that were originally intended to go somewhere in my AO3 story, Rivals-With-Benefits, so that I can send them to people who request them.~

Everything is under the cut :)

Fragment 1: I asked tumblr to give me prompts from a list of quotes that were to be the first line in a story/chapter. Here is as far as I got with it.

“I’m going to need you to put on some underwear before we do anything else.”

Lance puts a hand on his chest, feigning offense. “Pidge,” he says. “I am wearing a full suit of armor. We are in space. I might die tomorrow--there are too many reasons not to wear underwear, and you’re trying to tell me I have to?”

He doesn’t look over at Keith. Yes, this little spectacle is mostly for his benefit. But then again, most things Lance does are.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you.” The green paladin crosses their arms. “I refuse to do anything with you if I know you’re going commando under that bodysuit.”

“So if you don’t know I’m doing it, it’s fine?”

Shiro sighs heavily. “Lance, you really should be wearing underwear.”

Lance throws up his arms.

“You can’t even see anything,” Lance counters, not sure why this argument is still going on. He meant the comment to be offhand, something shrugged off as “just another Lance thing”. But Pidge seems to have taken it hard.

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“You’re making Pidge uncomfortable,” Hunk cuts in. “That’s reason enough.”

Lance’s steam runs out. That is never his intention. “Sorry, Pidge.”

They look at him with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, you want me to go put underwear on.”

The entire team watches Lance.

“Yeah, joke’s on you guys ‘cause I was wearing them the whole time!” Lance juts out one hip and stretches the fabric of his bodysuit so the faint line of his boxers is visible through it. “See?”

Pidge groans and shoves him, Shiro shakes his head, Hunk surrenders a grin, and Keith rolls his eyes. That’s more of a reaction than Lance usually gets from him--at least around other people--so Lance considers it a win.

Fragment 2: I was initially going to make chapter 9 (the chapter after Lance took a blaster shot to save Keith and ended up in the cryopod and Keith had a dream in which he confessed his feelings for Lance and subsequently avoided him like the plague for several weeks) from Lance’s perspective, with a lot of angst and bad communication, which is pretty par for the course for these two. I didn’t end up doing that, but I had a nice conversation between Lance and Hunk written out.

“Hey, Hunk, can I--can I talk to you?”

Lance steps into the training room and takes a seat along one of the walls.

Hunk pauses, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of a wrapped hand. “Yeah, buddy. Of course. What’s up?”

“Wait. Is Pidge here?”

“No.” Hunk laughs a little. “They tapped out about ten minutes ago and went to work on their new pod modifications.”

“Okay.”

Lance doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and Hunk takes it as a subtle cue to keep doing what he was doing, and hits the punching bag a few more times. “You’re really not doing a lot of talking,” Hunk says, and drops his fists when Lance’s silence continues. He picks his shirt up off the ground and slides it over his head as he walks over to Lance. “Which is unusual for you. You doing okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. You can keep doing what you’re doing, really--I don’t want this to be some big thing.”

“You saying that automatically makes me think that it is a big thing,” Hunk shoots back. He grabs a towel from the stack by the door and starts to pat his arms dry as he slides down the wall, joining Lance on the floor.

“It’s really not,” Lance argues, though at this point it’s just because he’s expected to say it and if he didn’t, Hunk would be even more worried. He wrings his hands a little, nervously. “But--Keith’s been acting weird, right?”

Hunk lowers his eyebrows in thought. “No, he’s seemed pretty normal to me. Why?”

“He’s been avoiding me for the last few weeks,” Lance laments. “I was wondering if it was everyone or just me.” He tries to keep the hurt out of his voice as he adds, “I guess it is just me.”

“Did something happen between you two?”

Lance bites his lip. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. I thought--” Lance knows he has to choose his words carefully, but he used to tell Hunk everything and the fact that he’s been keeping a secret for so long hits him like a punch to the gut. “I thought he and I were getting closer, but since that fight a couple weeks ago on the Galra outpost when I--when I ended up in the cryopod, he won’t even talk to me.”

“Hmm.” Hunk starts to unwrap his wrists. The fabric leaves creases in his skin. “He doesn’t seem the type to be so emasculated by this kind of thing, but maybe it hurt his pride when you took that blaster shot, you know? He was always kind of on his own before Voltron--maybe he doesn’t like being saved.”

Lance chews his lip. He passes Hunk his water bottle without saying anything.

“Or maybe he just feels bad about it, you know?” Hunk continues. “It’s not really a secret that the Galra found us because of him, but--we’ve all made mistakes like that. Two days ago I literally almost sold Pidge to a Galra sympathizer for faulty intel.” He leaves the first length of fabric in a pile and moves to his other wrist. “But that’s the reason Voltron has five paladins instead of one--we’re a team, and we catch each other’s mistakes.”

Lance rubs the hem of his shirt. “Yeah, but most of the time the team doesn’t end up with holes the size of a bayard in their stomachs,” he grumbles.

“Oh,” his friend says. “He really hasn’t talked to you. Like, at all.”

“No. Even in training or fights, he does anything he can to make sure he’s as far away from me as he can, and I--I hate it.” Lance turns away from Hunk, and adds angrily, “I miss him.”

Hunk breathes out through his nose, thinking over his words. “That does sound pretty shitty. I can go talk to him, if you want--see what’s up with him.”

“No,” Lance growls. He doesn’t even know what he’s trying to say, or why he thought talking to Hunk would do any good--nothing he does makes any sense anymore, and even when he thinks it does he just makes everything worse.

Lance hits his head on the wall behind him, cursing his own stupidity. “Fuck.”

“Lance?”

“I wish I hadn’t taken that shot for Keith.”

There’s a moment of tense silence before Hunk speaks. “You do?”

“Yeah.” Lance slams his head back again. He’s probably going to give himself a headache. “No. I want to.”

He squeezes his eyes shut, and Hunk put a hand on his forearm.

“And that’s the worst part, isn’t it?” Lance continues. “As much as I want to regret it, for all the physical, emotional, psychological--whatever--pain it’s caused me, I still can’t bring myself to actually wish it’d been Keith that went through what I did.”

“So…”

“I regret it in, like, a symbolic kind of way. I guess. I don’t know.” He opens his eyes and stares across the training room, forcing down the tears that burn in his eyes. “Because I thought--I was thinking that maybe--I don’t know. I just want things to go back to the way they were before all this.”

Fragment 3: It had to be cut for chapter length reasons, but I had a whole scene written out in which Lance makes a friend on one of the planets he visits alone after Team Voltron does the diplomacy thing. Circa chapter 11.

The meeting, of course, goes off without a hitch. The sentient creatures on this planet have already heard about the wonders of Voltron from the nearby--well, as nearby as things get in space--Balmerans, so they are eager to sign onto the treaty as soon as it’s presented to them. Once it’s signed, Allura breaks off to mingle with the president--or at least, ‘president’ is the most accurate approximation his suit’s translation system can make--and Hunk bids his farewell and makes his way back to Yellow in order to go see Shay.

Which leaves Lance on his own to do as he pleases.

Finally.

It’s never a small event, the arrival of Voltron. They’ve had a few instances where the crowds that greet them are angry, but for the most part the people are excited that the legend has returned with the promise of new hope. On this particular planet, they’ve been planning some sort of festival since Allura first got in contact with them.

There are vendors set up in rows along what Lance assumes is their main street, hawking their wares and spreading information about programs and services they offer. Lance sees an after-school club, a mechanic, and a food cart all in a row.

For the first few minutes, he leaves his helmet on, and the letters on the signs rearrange themselves into words he can read. But that makes him unapproachable, he’s found, and if he wants anything he can just ask and his space suit will translate the vendors’ words for him. So Lance pries the helmet from his head--after double and triple checking that the atmosphere is safe for him to breathe--and feels the light of the blue suns on the back of his head. One of them must be setting, and the changes in the light without the filter of his visor are beautiful enough that he stops in his tracks to look up at the sky.

“You look like you’ve never seen the rise of the summer sun before,” a voice to his left says.

“Sunrise?” Lance whispers to himself, and steps out of the way of the foot traffic toward the voice. “I can’t say I have.”

“You’re not from around here, that much is for sure.” They lean against the pole supporting one of the pop-up shops. “Five arnish says you’re one of the paladins of Voltron.”

Lance puts on his most winning smile, which he’s discovered truly is a universal sign of good will. “You’ve caught me. I’ve got no arnish to pay you in, though--just the pleasure of my company.”

The alien laughs. “Let’s get away from this crowd, paladin. My name is Adjiki.”

Lance falls into easy step beside the being. They’re a tall biped with broad shoulders and only one set of arms--a disappointment to say the least, but he supposes he’s not one to talk--and a higher, softer voice than his own. Their skin is a shade of orange that reminds Lance of circus peanuts, and all five of their eyes are the same solid blue as the summer sun.

“And I’m Lance,” he supplies. “So what brings you to the capital--are you from here, or did you come for the festivities?”

Adjiki thinks on the question. “I live just outside of the city, but my work takes me around our planet. So both, really.”

“Well, I’m definitely here for the party,” says Lance. Adjiki leads them down a side street and into less crowded plaza.

The alien pauses and looks around. “Where would you like to go?” they ask.

Lance chews on his lip. “Someplace with nice outdoor seating. I could look at the sunrise for hours--and I have to be back to my team soon, so I don’t want to waste a second.”

Adjiki looks to be processing his words, and for good reason--most of the aliens he meets get the wrong idea at first. In space, sexual encounters are far from taboo, and it’s even common practice to enjoy the company of many different species if one is so inclined. But Lance doesn’t really care to fuck unfamiliar aliens, and usually as soon as that become apparent, the topic passes and they spend some time just talking.

“I know a great restaurant a few streets over. Great view down the hill at the sun, too. My treat.”

Lance feels himself smile. He doesn’t normally find someone to talk to so quickly. “Sounds great.”

Adjiki is something of a diplomat, he learns. There are a few different governments across this world, though not nearly so many as on Earth. They have a long-running on-and-off relationship with two of their friends from school, and while Adjiki wants to tie their lives together, they haven’t yet had the courage to tell their partners so.

Lance finds it easiest to talk to complete strangers. There’s something about not knowing how long he’s going to be seeing the other members of team Voltron for almost all of his waking hours that makes him hesitant to open up to them. If he were to tell Hunk or Shiro of his fears about when they’ll get back home--if they will--or his dangerous feelings for the red paladin, then that confession would follow him everywhere.

With strangers, though, he knows he’ll probably never see them again. It’s so freeing to tell them everything, like the weight of the universe is being lifted from his shoulders, as cliché as that sounds. And it feels so fucking good to let it all out.

“So this ‘Keith’,” Adjiki says. They swirl their drink around in their glass and take another sip, though the effects of it are already turning their cheeks a rust color. “He has no idea that you have romantic feelings for him?”

“No. He’s the most oblivious man I’ve ever met.”

Adjiki raises three of their eyebrows at him. “So why don’t you just… tell him?”

“If I tell him and it makes things weird between us, it would destroy the cohesion of team Voltron, and we can’t--we can’t afford that with the universe at stake.”

“Do you not think that with the universe at stake, you would be able to put aside this ‘weirdness’ while in battle?” Adjiki sets down their drink. “I think that you, at least, already feel weird around him. It would not be much different.”

Lance takes a deep breath. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because--” Lance stops, bracing himself, and looks out to the sunrise. “Because I’m scared of what will happen if I do.”

The alien waits patiently for him to continue.

“If he doesn’t like me back, then this thing that we have--”

“Where you repeatedly engage in sexual activity under the guise that neither of you have romantic feelings for each other.”

“Yes, that thing. It’ll be over if I tell him.”

Adjiki regards him coolly. “You are very young to have all of this to deal with. Being a paladin of Voltron, and the rest of it.”

“Technically, I’m considered an adult back on Earth.” Lance shrugs. He knows he’ll have to return to the castleship soon.  “But I guess most people my age are worried about college and finding a job and stuff. Not saving the universe.”

“I will make a deal with you, Lance, blue paladin of Voltron,” says Adjiki. “I will tell my partners of my desire to share our life bonds if you tell yours that you care for him.”

Lance leans back in his chair. The blue sunrise continues to wash everything in a melancholy sort of color, and he vows to come back to this planet one day to watch the summer sun set.

“Sure,” Lance says finally, standing. “Yeah, I’ll take that deal.”

___

He’s really planning on doing it, at first. Telling Keith how he feels, that is.

But then Keith comes to him after the others are asleep, all brooding and not asking what he got up to on the planet today even though he clearly wants to. He comes in with his hair in a low ponytail and his voice all quiet and rumbling, saying things that make Lance’s heart rate rise while his hands linger just a little too long on his skin.

“You were gone for quite a while today,” he purrs.

Fragment 4: Once again, pacing and chapter length reasons led me to cut out this section. This was going to be the start of chapter 12, in which Shiro is missing and Keith gets mean in his grief/obsession with finding his brother.

“I’m not in the mood, Lance.”

Keith shoves Lance’s hands away and doesn’t even look up from the scanners, movements just as sharp as his words. Maybe at any other time, Lance would be offended that his attempted hug was scorned, but for now--well, he can’t say he didn’t expect this.

He keeps his voice low and calm when he replies, “I’m not asking you to be. I just came to check up on you.”

“I have work to do. You’re bothering me.” He spares Lance a single leave-me-alone look and goes back to whatever pointless, obsessive thing he was doing before.

To say that things between him and Keith--or, really, anyone and Keith--have been tense since Shiro disappeared would be an understatement. As the days and weeks have gone by, he’s only gotten more standoffish and isolated himself from the rest of the team.

So, yeah. Lance is worried about him.

“Keith, please, this isn’t healthy,” he says. “You’re not taking care of yourself.”

And indeed, the other paladin looks terrible. His skin is hollow, the bags under his eyes dark enough to make him look bruised. It’s been days since he showered, and Hunk confided in Lance that Keith’s eating patterns have been erratic at best. Allura says that when he’s not in the control room or in a cruiser searching for their lost team member, he’s in the training room, and even Pidge agrees that that doesn’t leave nearly enough time for sleep.

“This isn’t about me. This is about Shiro. And if no one else is going to look for him, I will.”

“Treating yourself like this isn’t going to help us find Shiro any faster. Please, Keith. Take a break.”

Keith turns on him then, fire in his eyes. “Take a break?” he demands. “You want me to take a fucking break, when we have no idea what he’s going through? With every minute that passes, he could be going through interrogation, torture--anything! They could be making him fight in the ring again, Lance, and he--he doesn’t deserve to go through that again.”

For just a moment, his hard resolve breaks and Lance sees the mess he is underneath.

“I know.” He searches for words. This isn’t going at all how he planned. “And we’ll keep looking for him. But--he wouldn’t want to see you like this, Keith. Please, at least come shower. I’ll even wash your hair for you.”

He doesn’t mean for the words to come off as suggestive. Really, he doesn’t.

Keith scoffs and looks back at his screen. “I already said I’m not in the mood.”

“I wasn’t trying to--you know what, nevermind. Just--whatever.” Lance shoves his hands in his jacket pockets and pulls out the juice pouches and snacks he brought with him. He throws them at Keith because, yeah, the whole not-getting-offended thing isn’t working out as well as he planned. “Eat some goddamn crackers and wallow, then. See if I care.”

Lance storms off.

Unfortunately for him, he does care.

***

Things only get worse the longer that Shiro’s gone.

Keith gets angrier.

Lance tries to make him feel better.

Keith says nastier things to push him away.

No one really knows what to do. They still have a universe to defend, after all--but at what point do they accept that Shiro is probably gone for good?

Fragment 5: And now, the final piece, in which I was going to write another chapter while they were stuck in the lions on their way back to Earth, but didn’t finish it before season 7 came out. This is practically a full chapter, though, and entirely fluff.

The next planet they set down on is inhabited.

It’s not a planet, really, and more of an outpost. They have food to buy—Allura was smart enough to empty out the Castle’s monetary reserves before they abandoned it—and supplies to restock, so it seems like as good a place as any to do so. At face value, the place looks pretty straight-laced, but seeing as they arrive at midday, that doesn’t mean much. As the hours pass, Lance watches as the other side of the city comes to life.

They rent rooms for the night, because it’s been weeks since any of them have had a proper bed to sleep on, and the rate is cheap for a quality room. There are two beds in each, so they take up almost a full floor with their five rooms. Coran is the only one who gets a room to himself, but he snores so the rest of them are okay with that. There’s even a stable for their animals, which makes Lance feel like they’re in an old western movie, except in outer space with wildly high-tech gadgets.

They accomplish all their errands before the sun goes down. There’s a lounge area at the inn they’re staying at, and the nine of them gather in it, at a loss for what to do. They don’t have much for downtime nowadays—really, for the past few years—so it’s a strange feeling. Lance let himself spend a few extra minutes in the shower, kind of hoping Keith would hop in with him, but mostly just enjoying the feeling of hot water running over his skin and cleansing him of weeks of travel. Now he’s in his jeans and t-shirt, and for once he’s glad by how worn they are because it makes them soft and so, so comfortable after his armor.

“Do they have, like, board games?” Pidge asks. “Or a copy of Monsters and Mana?”

Coran scans the shelves around them. “I’m afraid not, Number Five.”

And then it’s Hunk, of all people, that says it: “Let’s go out tonight.”

Krolia blinks at him. “Out?”

“Yeah,” Hunk says. As he speaks, Lance watches him get more into the idea, and it’s infectious. “I saw a club a little ways down the road, and you get a discount for groups of eight or more.”

Lance grins at him, ear to ear. This is the kind of content Lance wholeheartedly subscribes to. “Hunk, I’ve said this before, but you’re a genius.”

“Oh, that would be delightful,” Romelle agrees, halfway through braiding part of her hair. The blue markings on her cheeks flash.

Allura frowns, considering. “I don’t know…”

“Think of it, Princess,” Coran interjects. “All of us, out celebrating being alive. You know, I was a very talented dancer as a young man, and I could teach all of you some of my signature moves.”

Behind him, Pidge holds back a laugh. They elbow Shiro. “It would be great team bonding, you now.”

Allura and Shiro look at each other across the room, and seem to come to an agreement.

“Alright,” says Allura. “We’ve earned a night off, that’s for certain.”

“Yes!” Hunk and Lance say at the same time.

“I’m ready to leave, like, now,” Lance continues, already standing up from his chair and stretching his arms above his head. “Who’s coming with?”

“Me!” says Pidge, shooting up from their chair. Hunk follows their lead and stands, and the rest of the group does the same with varying degrees of excitement. Lance meets Keith’s eyes and winks at him. Keith narrows his eyes in response, and that’s how Lance knows he’s suppressing a smile.

The club is all multi-colored lights and deep-thrumming basslines. Some things, it seems, are universal, and dance clubs are one of them. None of the music is familiar, per se, but the beat is heavy and calls to Lance. While they wait in line, he pulls Hunk into a half-dance with him. It’s like he’s incapable of keeping his feet and his hips still, because the music has taken him over.

“I wonder if they have Nunvill,” Coran says. His body is twitching, too, and Lance thinks that this might be a preview of his dancing for the evening. “I have been craving some lately. But stop me after I’ve had three, because four-Nunvill Coran is a bit feisty. I’ve been thrown out of several fine establishments, I won’t deny it.”

Lance and Hunk share a look.

“I’ll keep an eye on you,” Shiro says. “I won’t be having anything to drink, anyway.”

Pidge perks up. “Drinking?”

“You won’t, either,” Shiro says without hesitation, in his best dad-voice. “You’re not old enough to drink.”

“But somehow I’m old enough to risk my life defending the universe?”

Shiro scowls. “Fine. But you have to take it slow.”

“Yes!” Pidge pumps their fist in the air. “I brought one of my portable scanners, so we can check the drinks for any human toxins, and the alcohol content.”

Lance high-fives Pidge, and feels his own excitement buzzing. He hadn’t even considered drinking. For a lot of reasons, he grew up knowing that breaking the law is not something he should do. Rules are a bit more of a gray area, but the law is not something for him to mess with. So the only time he’s had a drink is the night their family was celebrating his mami’s new promotion and his papi offered him a beer.

They reach the front of the line, and Allura hands over the appropriate number of GACs to gain entrance for the nine of them. Inside, the club pulses with lights and the deep pulse of the music hits Lance like a wall. It vibrates in his chest, takes over his body like it didn’t outside, and it’s with a kind of ache that he realizes how much he’s missed dancing. The tension seeps out of his muscles and is replaced by happiness.

He lags several steps behind Keith as they walk to the bar, so that he can watch the other man’s body. It’s purely for research purposes, of course, because he wants to get a sense of whether Keith is any kind of dancer, or if he’s going to be stiff as a board all night. It takes a few seconds of hard scrutiny, but—yes, there it is—he finds the barest trace of an intention to his footfalls, a sway to his hips.

Lance grins. His prospects for the evening just got a whole lot better.

Shiro limits them all to one drink to start out, and Pidge scans everything they order. When it’s deemed safe, Lance takes a tentative sip of his drink. It’s thick and lemony, with only a hint of bite to tell him it’s alcoholic.

He and Hunk share a glance, and with how well they know each other it’s an entire conversation. Hunk nods to him and drags Pidge, who is holding a bottle of something green, off to join Romelle and Allura on the dance floor. Coran is long gone, and Krolia and Shiro look content to stay at the bar, so Lance has his opening.

“Can I try your drink?” he asks Keith, using the loud music around them as an excuse to lean in close. They’re a few paces down from Krolia and Shiro. “You can taste mine.”

“Um—sure,” Keith says, and hands over his cup. When he brings Lance’s glass to his lips and takes a sip, his eyebrows shoot up. “This is good.”

“You think so?” Lance sniffs Keith’s drink and he can already smell its potency, but he’s not surprised because there isn’t much in the glass. It’s basically a shot.

“Yeah,” Keith agrees, and takes another drink.

“You can have it if you want,” Lance says impulsively. “We can trade.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

To show his commitment, Lance tips his head back and swallows all of Keith’s drink. He has to fight the grimace that pulls at his lips, and forces a smile instead.

Keith grins back, and Lance takes the opportunity to sidle in close and bump him with his hips. “Let’s dance,” he says.

Hesitation flashes in Keith’s eyes—or maybe it’s just the lights—but then he nods. “I’m not very good,” Keith says like it’s an apology. His gaze drifts down Lance’s body, and he realizes that he’s still moving. He didn’t even notice, but Keith obviously has.

“You don’t have to be,” Lance assures him. “You have me.”

They find a place on the dance floor, away from the rest of the group. The press of bodies around them nudges them closer together, until their chests brush in time with the music and Lance can pick out Keith’s smell over the rest of them in the room.

The music engulfs him. He steps side to side and rolls his body, twists it, does whatever the sound pounding in his ears tells him to do. He relishes in it, being able to relinquish control to the music so entirely. With as long as it’s been since they’ve had a day off… Allura’s right. They really do deserve to enjoy themselves tonight.

Lance rests his hands on Keith’s hips and convinces them to move more smoothly. “God, I hate that you’re taller than me now,” he says. It’s one of those thoughts that pops into his head and, normally, does not make it past his lips. But the alcohol has found his head now and taken up residence there, making him feel light and bouncy. It’s the kind of tenant that takes up too much space and shoves things like self control and common sense out of the way.

Keith laughs and takes a step in closer to Lance, dangerously close to pressing their bodies together. Lance looks up at him in surprise and finds Keith’s face only inches from him. Lights of all colors dance across Keith’s face, making his expression inscrutable, and the urge to kiss him rises unbidden in Lance’s throat. They are in public, after all, and kissing him in front of other people ventures too close to “dating” territory, where they most certainly are not.

So Lance does the only logical thing. He snatches the glass from Keith’s hand and downs everything that remains.

“Hey!” Keith says, grabbing the drink back from Lance moments too late. Lance gives him a shit-eating grin as a consolation prize, to which Keith narrows his eyes. “Asshole.”

Lance shrugs and dances in a circle. “Maybe so.”

He sets Keith’s glass on a tray as it floats by, and Keith glances back over at the bar. Shiro and Krolia are talking, and Keith starts in their direction.

Lance catches his shoulder with less grace than he would have if he were sober. “Don’t go get another one yet,” he says. “Then Shiro will know I had two.”

The raised eyebrow Keith gives him is, honestly, impressive. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you drank both of our drinks.”

For that, Keith receives a set of finger guns. So, yeah, Lance is feeling those drinks, and it’s delightful.

“I’ll just tell him I’m 21 and I can have as many drinks as I want,” Keith says, and holds out his arm for Lance to hold onto before they elbow their way through the crowd.

“You’re smart,” Lance says, feeling the way the alcohol clings to his words and makes them more rounded and blunt than usual. “Stick it to the man. Don’t take none of his shit.”

“I think these drinks are stronger than Pidge is letting on,” Keith observes, casting an appraising glance in Lance’s direction.

Lance wrinkles his nose. “Are they?”

Keith doesn’t answer. They’ve arrived at the bar, about ten feet down from where Krolia and Shiro are chatting, and Keith orders another shot-sized drink.

“You’re not even getting a fun one?” demands Lance.

“I’m going for efficiency here,” Keith says. Then he knocks back the shot and sets the glass back down on the counter. Lance imagines the hollow thunk it would have made if he could hear it over the music.

“Tough guy,” Lance chides.

He drags Keith easily back out onto the dance floor, and he can tell the instant that the alcohol hits Keith’s brain, or wherever it goes when it makes you all floaty and not worried about anything anymore. His movements loosen and he doesn’t seem so worried what everyone around them thinks of two humans dancing so closely together. The only people that would have cared anyway are their friends, and Hunk has been kind enough to keep them all on the other side of the dance floor.

So Lance and Keith dance, bodies pressed together and hands roaming over each other’s skin and clothes until Lance feels a familiar and not unwelcome ache between his thighs. A quick glance between his body and Keith’s confirms that Keith is feeling it too. They dance for a while longer, letting the heat between them build and the spinning in their heads keep them aloft. Lance gets less and less cautious with his hands, dragging his fingers up the back of Keith’s thighs and his touch underneath the fabric of his shirt. Keith does the same.

Eventually, they decide that they’ve had enough of this particular kind of dancing.

“Back to the hotel?” Lance says into Keith’s ear, because he wouldn’t have heard him any farther away.

Keith nods and says what Lance guesses is, “Yeah,” and then they push through the crowd to the exit.

Outside, the air is crisp and the quiet is deafening. Lance’s ears ring and his footsteps feel unsteady without the press of bodies to keep him upright. The alcohol may be working its way out of his bloodstream by now, but it’s far from gone.

“I’ll text Hunk,” Lance announces, pulling up the direct message line between himself and his best friend on his wrist communicator. “An’ tell him we had to go home because we’re drunk.” He talks aloud as he types with imprecise motions. “Have fun at the club budddy me n keith r going home because were drunk. Do not worry aboutt us.”

Once he hits send, he wraps his arm around Keith’s waist and pulls him close for the short walk back to the hotel. The road is well-lit, and out of the flashing lights of the club, Lance sees the deep flush across Keith’s cheeks. Some of it, he knows, is from the alcohol, but the rest of it, he also knows, is from desire. He can feel his own pulsing beneath his skin, begging to be let out.

He’s thankful yet again that no one raised questions when he and Keith claimed a room together earlier in the night. It saves them any headache of worrying about being walked in on, or blocking their roommates when they got home later in the evening. Without that to preoccupy him, Lance can focus entirely on Keith.

Inside the room, they don’t even make it to the bed before their hands are on each other. From the moment the door is closed Keith has him pressed up against the wall and is kissing him so hard the Lance lets out a low, involuntary whine. He slides one knee between Keith’s legs and pulls him closer, shoving his hands beneath Keith’s shirt and trying to rip it up over his head.

Keith gets the idea and finishes the job for him, then helps Lance with his shirt. Both their bodies are still slick with sweat from all their dancing, and heat radiates from Keith’s skin. Lance kisses across his jaw and down his neck, biting down at his collarbone and squeezing a fistfull of Keith’s ass when he moans.

“Lance, shouldn’t we,” Keith starts, but has to take a few short breaths before he can continue. “Shouldn’t we have a conversation about consent because we’re both inebriated?”

“Can it be a short conversation?”

“Probably.”

“I trust you,” Lance says, using every piece of his willpower to keep his hands in one place for the duration of their attempted serious conversation. “If I want to stop at any point I still trust you to stop. And if I fall asleep, or whatever. Just like normal. Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” Keith agrees. The effort it takes him to speak clearly is evident by the speed of his words and the obvious focus it’s taking him to make them. He’s so close to Lance that he sees individual beads of sweat on his skin, begging to be licked away. “But I need to know you’re not going to let me do anything you wouldn’t let me do if you were sober.”

“All the normals rules apply,” says Lance. “And it goes both ways. I don’t want to take advantage of you, either.”

He doesn’t mention that he feels like he’s taking advantage of Keith always, by not telling him how he really feels and letting Keith believe that he thinks of this in the emotionless, functional way that Keith does. It’s dishonest, yes, but that particular dishonesty is unchanged from any of their sober sex, so he feels justified in leaving it out of this particular conversation.

“Okay,” Keith says.

“Okay,” Lance repeats.

Their eyes meet. Lance takes one deep breath.

Then they’re kissing again.

Lance’s pants drop to the ground with little ceremony, and Keith’s follow shortly after. There are two beds in the room but they only need one, and Keith lands on his back on whichever of them is closest before Lance climbs on top of him.

He nips at Keith’s ear and says, in his most sultry voice, “I’ll ride you.”

Keith’s breath hitches, and that’s all the answer he needs.

Hope you enjoyed :)

[iwriteficsandmore]

Professional Relationship. Part 3: First Date

Fandom: BnHA

Pairing: Hawks x Reader

______

This had been an utter shock to you. Before the day had even started you'd gone out of your way to convince yourself, thoroughly and absolutely, that this outing was only between friends. 'Friends' as in 'a pair of grown adults with more or less particularly dubious intentions towards one another' but friends all the same. But as the day had gone by and you enjoyed the rest of Tokyo Disneyland with Hawks, you admitted that this stopped being a plain outing between friends a long time ago.

It had ever since that small tender kiss at the start of your day together. And as it went by, though he hadn’t tried again anything so brazen so far and was still his talkative self, Hawks’ usual cheesy one liners that you were so used to deflecting turned subtler and more tasteful. Things like small words or touches here and there that you couldn’t make yourself dismiss as easily as before. Maybe this whole trip had just turned your brain completely upside down, but a part of you didn’t see much wrong with that now. Frankly, after having that little taste and him being just that bit more tactful, it was kind of endearing you to him much more than anything else had before.

But thinking too much about that didn’t let you have any fun. So instead you set it aside, basking in the joy of spending time with him in your favorite place on earth instead. Both of you stumbled out of the Mad Hatter’s tea cups unsteady on your feet. Sparing the hero beside you a glance and seeing his face a tad bit on the green side, you feared that this ride might be the one to finally break him. Though Hawks tried to laugh it off as nothing, you knew better by the way he looked and went to buy him some water at the nearest vendor. Passing through the crowd on your way back, you searched for the massive red wings that wee way easier to spot than the man himself but you stop in your tracks, not finsing him as alone as you left him.

“Oh my goodness, my friends are gonna freak when they see this!” 

The high-pitched shriek of a highschooler came to your ears as you saw said girl standing near Hawks who apparently was well enough to take a picture with them. And it didn’t stop at her despite how much you hopelessly prayed it would. No, with their single ‘thanks, Hawks’ that easily spread through, a crowd quickly formed around him with incoherent babble being sent his way. It got to the point where they were even pushing you back, and despite how much you wanted to shove them out of your way, you knew that wouldn’t be the wisest idea. 

So you stayed on the sidelines instead, watching from afar as he pleased the people he protected and that admired him in return throughout Japan. Though you knew this might as well be normal for him, you couldn’t help but feel a little part of you break at being quite literally shoved to the side. It wasn’t like you didn’t know this could happen either. Although it wouldn’t be hard to miss him if one cared to look hard enough, Hawks and you had decided to not use his hero name for a reason. It would just attract unwanted attention when all you wanted for the day was to have a good day together. And seeing him mobbed so easily in a public place only reminded you about another reason why you adhered so tightly to your personal ‘no heroes’ rule. There simply was no way to have a ‘private life’. They were a public figure and as such were expected to stand at the ready for the limelight that came with such a title as pro hero. And that was a place that you wanted no part in whatsoever. 

Opting to let him deal with his crowd, you headed on your own towards the shops nearby. Since he was technically accompanying you for the day, you supposed that waiting for him would be the civil thing to do. Eyeing the rows upon rows of headbands and hats, you peered each one looking for one to your liking. Picking the new gold rose ears you'd seen online, the color reminded you of an ashy blond head that was outside the store. The thought alone soured your mood a little. 

"Those'd look cute on you." 

Though you would have rather not answer, the bitterness piling up in you—with no good damn reason to be there, mind you—beat you to the punch.

"I don't know. Don't you think it'd look cuter on that girl from back there?"

"What?"

Catching yourself with how petty and stupid what you said just sounded, you shook your head to deciate from your previous words. "Nevermind. I'm going to pay, so you can just wait outside if you want."

"...sure."

Truth was you didn't really want to buy anything. You just wanted some excuse to stay at bay while you composed yourself. What you saw hit much harder than you expected it to. Hawks was a famous, young, and prominent hero. Of course there'd be people out there who idolized him. And the 'young' part obviously meant there'd be women out there with their eye on him. You'd seen it plenty of times before but they never pained you like they did now and you couldn't help but wonder why.

Just forget about it. You're just torturing yourself over petty things. Besides it's not like you two are a thing or anything.

That bitter reminder dealt the worst blow. You really had no right to be even remotely jealous about anything and the mere thought of that hurt. 

And that it was starting to ruin your most favorite place—your little haven away from the rest of the world—was just the worst of it all. So you decided to not let it do that. You came here to have fun and that would be what you'd do. You took a deep breath as you exited the shop wearing the ears, vowing to just forget what happened earlier in the day and enjoy what time you had left there. Finding Hawks outside by himself, you notice the crimson feathers of his wings preen as you approached. His boyish smile shone through but it did little against your renewed resolve. 

"Told you they'd be cute on you," he said nonchalantly.

"Mm."

Almost immediately, the smile vanished as confusion replaced it and his lips became a taut line. "Everything okay?"

No. "Everything's fine. I'm just tired."

"Want to head home early?"

Shake your head is all you did before you headed onward through the park with Hawks, understandably, perplexed. He seems to shove that aside though and you both continue on...but with one notable difference between you. Anytime he tried to make any kind of move, you diverted it. Anytime he tried to reach for your hand, you took it away to do mindless things like brush back your hair or point out to where you wanted to go. Anytime he tried to cradle you closer to him with his wings, you would take a few steps away or simply keep your distance. 

It might be petty but it was the only way to feel safe anymore. Safe from being hurt like you had just a few hours ago. Safe from falling for him anymore than you already had. 

Hawks, though clearly aware of what you were doing, didn't mention any of it. A part of you thanked him for that. Pretty soon, the atmosphere between you returned to what it had been before that kiss, just friends out having fun though that awkward air never quite left you. Nighttime soon came and the whole park lighted up beautifully, the glow shinning in your eyes as you headed back to the area near the castle. The fireworks were the best thing about staying late at the park and would be a wonderful way to end your trip. But as you neared the plaza you pouted at seeing it much fuller than you expected it to be.

You couldn't even make your way through to get to a good viewing spot.

Hawks whistled audibly even through the ruckus of thousands of people talking to one another. "Looks packed."

"I knew we should've gotten here earlier," you muttered to yourself, peeved. Knowing that this was going to be a big event should've hinted at you that the fireworks show would be more crowded than usual. Heaving a sigh, you stood on your tiptoes trying to look over the crowd which consisted mostly of people that easily towered over you. "Guess we can just watch from here."

"We could, but I think I've got a better idea." 

Before you could ask him what he meant, you felt his hands slip onto your waist to hold on tightly. Clearing away from the crowd, you couldn't do much except hold on when Hawks took off haphazardly into the air. Thankfully you didn't go far. With practiced ease, he lowered the two of you onto one of the rooftops of Main Street perfectly in view of the castle as a whole. 

Awed by such perfect spot, you turned to look at him, "Is this even allowed?"

"Called beforehand to make sure it would be, so don't worry." You were so giddy about having such a perfect place that you didn't mind Hawks as he took your hand to lower you down to a sit on the flat top of the roof. "Just said that we should be seated throughout the whole show."

As the announcer came claiming the show would begin in a few minutes, you stared down at the people in awe until a thought came to you. Turning to Hawks quizzically and with a raised eyebrow, you asked, "Why bother?"

He gave a nonchalant shrug, a smile forming on those lips of his. "You looked pretty excited about this, so I wanted to make sure you wouldn't miss anything."

A tinge of guilt hit you at hearing this, especially after having been so cold to him when things had been going so well up until your pettiness struck. Unable to make heads or tails of your own mind, you decided to ask instead, "What I don't get is why bother so much for me?"

"I don't think there's anything to get."

"That's because you get why you do what you do. I don't. No matter how much I think about it, I can't figure out what you're thinking. Ever. Much less why. So, I'm going to ask you again and I want you to answer me with the truth this time—no jokes, no sarcasm. Why are you always doing so much for me. Not just this either. All the little things from before too. When there's so many others out there that you could easily have and are better suited, why come after me?"

"Quite the loaded question," he said with a lopsided smirk. A frown instantly came to your face at him defaulting to his smugness. A stern 'Hawks' sobered him out of it as the smirk vanished and was then replaced by a taut line of his lips instead. "I guess it can be boiled down to one reason."

Curious at his honesty, your head tilted to listen to him better. "What's that?"

"You're everything I'm not. You're everything I wish I could be. Everything I admire in others in one very small packet."

"What do you mean?"

"That you're beautiful and conscientious barely scratch the surface of it. Though they don't matter as much as you being caring, hopeful, and—by the looks of it—quite the believer." His arm swept out at the brightly lit castle and the magical place below us. "And I'm not just talking about your charming childishness either. No matter how much you claim to not like how crude and nonsensical everything about this world and its people is, you never stop believing that it can be better if we try to change it. You believe there's something beyond all the senseless evil in people and what they do. You believe there's good. And you have no idea how much I would like to believe that too." 

"That's why?"

Giving a simple nod, Hawks turned back to you with a much more sincere smile than before. "That's why. And frankly, that makes you quite easy and worthwhile to love."

Hearing that word from his lips flushed your cheeks almost instantly. And though you tried hiding it, there wasn't much that could hide the warmth that spread quickly across your face. A low chuckle came from him as he reached for one of your hands that was desperately trying to hide your face and took it in his. This time you didn't take it back and watched as he brought it up to his lips to lay a gentle kiss to the back of it. 

"Now it's your turn to tell the truth, love. After what happened to today, can you honestly tell me to my face that you feel nothing for me?"

Though you don't think it possible, you felt your face heat up more at his assumption. Not so much because it was wrong but because of how blunt he was being. Averting your eyes was the only way you could even begin to tell him the truth. "I-I won't lie and say I don't feel nothing but...wouldn't it be hard?"

"Hard?"

"Being with you, I mean." The hold you had on his hand tightened, not wanting to let go anytime soon. "You're the No.2 hero for crying out loud. So many things could happen that just thinking about them makes my head spin. I don't know if I could take all that. I don't know if I am the best person to stand by your side with everybody else already relying on you to protect them."

"I could think of no other woman strong or brave enough to be with. But I won't force you, love. It's as much my choice as it is yours." 

You didn't miss the subtle question in his words. "Really? You're asking me out now? Here?"

Though small, you were sure that his smile wanted so badly to turn into a grin. "Well, since neither of our offices is good for that, nor are interviews, I thought that maybe this would be the best place I'd get the chance to." Instantly, it disappeared becoming a much more sincere smile. "So what do you say, y/n? Want to make this our first real date?"

Your eyes wandered off as the lights all across the park began to dim. Though many things contradicted your feelings telling you not to take the risk, one thought rose above it all and spoke louder than the rest. 

But what if he makes you happy? Isn't that reason enough to say yes.

Yeah. Yeah, it was.

Dark as it was and with the music starting to play through the loudspeakers in the plaza, you found one way to tell him this. Reaching out to take his cheek and jaw in your hand, you turned his attention away from the castle to capture his lips with yours. Just as you did this, you jumped in your skin, taken by surprise by the firework that exploded in the sky. Thankfully, Hawks was fast enough to hold you by the waist, securing you in place and deepening the kiss you started.

Savoring the taste of him for the brief moment it lasted, you couldn't peel your eyes away from his as the lights of the fireworks illuminated his face. But you couldn't keep the small chuckle that escaped you either at seeing his own face darkened in red. Conscious about it at last, he tried hiding it behind the short collar of his jacket but when he couldn't, it burst another chuckle out of you. Shuffling to sit closer, you leaned your head on his shoulder to watch the fireworks show. Hawks, finally snapping out of his stupor after another moment or two, did the same, leaning his cheek against the top of your head to watch it with you. With your hands held together between you two and his wings cradling you close so that you wouldn't leave his side now that you were willingly there, you watched the fireworks come and go, dying down as the show ended. And though it signaled the end of the day and your trip together, you knew this was just the first of many more dates to come.

____________

Though the park was just closing, you knew that Downtown Disney wouldn't close for another hour. And frankly, you wanted to get something to remember this day by. Besides, what was one more souvenir gonna do to the stash you already had from all the times you visited? As you looked through the plush section trying to decide whether a Stitch or Winnie the Pooh one would be better, you felt something brush against your back as hands came down over your head to put a headband on. Whirling about, you breathed an air of relief at finding Hawks behind you with a cheeky smirk on his face.

Smacking him lightly with the other pair you had already bought before, you tried reaching back to see what he'd gotten but was stopped rather quickly by him. 

"Nuh-uh. You gotta look at yourself with them on, angel."

"Oh, come on."

"Trust me, you look amazing." Grabbing you by the shoulders, Hawks easily took you to the nearest mirror and the moment you looked at yourself, you felt and saw your cheeks fluster as your heart flipped. The ears he'd gotten were the bride Minnie ones, veil and all shimmering gorgeously in the light. "See? Charming." Eyeing him through the reflection on the mirror, his smirk widened at noticing the color of your face. "Though I'll say that an actual veil and pretty white gown would make you look simply breathtaking."

Not thinking it possible, you felt your face warm even further as you took the veil to try and hide your face with it, only managing to obscure your mouth as you mumbled, "You're rather blunt about this, aren't you?"

"What can I say?" Hawks leaned in to rest his cheek against yours as you both looked at each other through the mirror once more. "Once I've set my mind on something, I just can't hold myself back."

[blitzandthebarracudabrigade]

Prologue 2.1: Salmon Running and You

Welp here’s the second prologue story, with guest cameo by @blueplayer2‘s OC Akio and featuring @flowingchiaki‘s OCs Hazel and Fil(bert), @patar-fuifui / @inkdazzled‘s OC Andy, and @theoneguardian‘s OC Brayden! 

(Music linked in the story isn’t mine, obviously)

Not gonna lie, I’ve been wanting to work on this prologue story for a while ever since Salmon Run was revealed at last year’s E3 event with Nintendo and I had so much theory crafting going on. More or less the game mode was everything I expected it to be and more, what with the locations and special Grizz Co. weapons to play around with. But anyway I hope you enjoy “Salmon Running and You!”

*Beep beep beep beep!*

“Mmm... not now babe. A few more... minutes.”

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

“Damnit alright I’m up!”

An inkling grumpily slammed his hand down on an alarm clock next to him, causing the blaring device to go quiet. For a few moments the inkling smothered his face on his pillow in an effort to clear the sleep out of his eyes. Eventually he pulled himself off his bed and clumsily stood up and walked to his bathroom. Looking into the mirror he reached a hand to his cheeks and pulled them down, trying to get his eyes to widen.

Ugh... I knew I shouldn’t have had those drinks last night.

Despite his groggy condition he had to get himself together for his new job. He hastily brushed his beak, took a quick shower (a cold one at that), and went to the kitchen to grab a snack. He glanced to his phone and saw that he was running late to his job; a first for him.

Damn, gonna have to call a guy to get me on time.

Keeping his phone out he taps on the Sc.Uber app and scrolls down the list of drivers. Finally he spots one he knows is reliable.

“Yo how’s it going? Uh I need you to pick me up asap. Yeah I-I know it’s pretty early but I’ll pay you compensation for it. Alright, cool.”

The inkling was about to put his phone away he heard tires screeching in the distance before a sports car pulled up to his house.

“Hey,” the driver yelled as he pulled down his driver side window. “you ready to go?”

“Yeah I am!” The inkling ran down and got into the passenger side before the car revved up and sped off, leaving behind long tire marks on the street.

“Hey, thanks again for picking me up at this hour. The app showed you were the only one available and-”

“Don’t sweat it dude!” The driver bumped his client’s shoulder with a fist and clutched the gear up a notch. “Now where to my good sir?”

The passenger pointed towards Inkopolis Plaza. “That way.”

The driver nodded with a grin and pressed down on the gas, pushing the car’s engine to the max and speeding through the light traffic. The inkling sat back and looked out the window, watching various landmarks pass by like Moray Towers and Urchin Underpass. A few minutes later the car arrived at the square’s parking lot. 

“Alright, here’s your stop.”

“Thanks,” The inkling took out his wallet and gave the inkling a roll of cash. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks Aeto!” The driver gave him a sincere smile and rolled up his window. 

Aeto grinned back and took a bite of his snack. “See you again Akio!” He turned to the inkling social hub and started making his way in, wolfing down his food along the way. He looked around to see that the local shop vendors were just getting their doors opened up and waved to a few. He even saw Crusty Sean pulling in with his food truck.

Hmm, maybe I’ll get one of his Seanwiches during my lunch break.

A few minutes later he reached his destination: the GrizzCo. Industries building. Albeit looked more like a run-down store than a true building it was where Aeto’s latest occupation was located. He walked inside and set down the few possessions he brought with him into a locker before reaching up for his work uniform. In a moment’s notice he donned the company’s signature hat, rubber overalls, and a white jumpsuit before heading for his desk. He took out a pen and clipboard and scanned over the list on top.

Looks like we’ll be getting 3 volunteers for the morning shift. 

Aeto set down the clipboard and tapped the pen on his head. 

But they’re new to the business so that means I’ll have to show ‘em the ropes huh? Oh well, guess that’s why Mr. Grizz gave me that new job as trainer.

He pushed back on his chair and got up to stretch his arms over his head, feeling his back finally getting some much needed attention. He looked to his locker and pulled out a rental Splatterscope and strapped the charger over his shoulder, waiting for the volunteers to arrive.

(One hour later...)

The first of the volunteers arrived as Aeto leaned against the doorway to the building, eyeing the crowds of inklings and jellies that walked to and fro. He glanced down to his clipboard and saw three names scribbled down and tapped on each one.

They should have came in almost 15 minutes ago...

The inkling sat back down behind his desk and kicked his legs up, leaning back on a worn out folding chair as he flipped through the few papers attached to his clipboard. However he didn’t hear a pair of footsteps walking to the building until someone coughed.

“Excuse me, is this where we sign up for Salmon Running?”

Aeto hesitated for a moment before sitting upright and fixing his cap. He looked to the entrance and saw two inklings looking at him quizzically.

“Uh yes this is it,” He stood up and walked towards them before reaching out to shake their hands. “And you two are...?”

“My name’s Hazel, and this is my little brother Filbert!” The inkling girl wrapped her arm around the younger sibling, who shyly smiled back.

“Come on sis, it’s Fil!” He hissed back to her, causing the older sibling to giggle mischievously. 

Aeto nodded and looked to his clipboard, seeing their named printed on the top of the recruit list. He lifted the paper up and saw two pictures of said inklings.

“Alright, please come inside and wait in the lobby while the other two show up.” He motioned with his hand for the pair to take a seat by a set of chairs. As the senior freelancer was about to head to his desk he noticed another inkling standing at the front door waiting.

“Ah, are you here for the morning Salmon Run shift as well?”

The inkling nodded, a stoic silent look stared back at Aeto as he glanced down to the clipboard.

“Brayden, correct?”

He nodded again.

“Okay, please come inside and take a seat by the other recruits.”

He nodded once more and walked in before setting his belongings under his seat. At the same time Aeto took a moment to himself to check off his list.

That’s three present. The last one to arrive is-

“E-excuse me?”

Aeto heard a soft and slightly jittery voice calling from the doorway and looked to see an octoling boy peeking in.

“Ah, hello there. Are you, by any chance, Andy?” He looked back to his list and saw the last name printed.

“Mhmm.” The octoling nodded and peeked in a little more.

“Well, welcome aboard!” Aeto reached to him with an open arm. “Glad you could make it young octo!”

At first Andy recoiled from the sudden loud burst from the senior inkling but felt himself calm down before reaching out to shake his hand. 

“Thanks.”

“Now come in, the others are waiting for you to take a seat. I’ll get with you all in a minute.”

The octoling thanked him again and hurriedly found a seat a row ahead of the others before setting down his own items before sitting down. In a few minutes Aeto approached the four with a projector under his arm.

“Alright recruits! Now, Mr. Grizz has told me to show you this video tape of the basics on how we run things around here,” He then placed the device on a stool and pointed it towards a tarp on an adjacent wall. “But I thought that would be pretty boring so we’re just going to say that you watched it.” He pushed the stool aside and dragged a crate to the front of the room. 

“So... what are we going to do instead then?” Hazel questioned, crossing her arms.

“Glad you asked!” He took out a crowbar and cracked open the container. The lid flew off to the side, revealing a plethora of ink-based firepower to the group. “Because I’m going to show you how to Salmon Run myself!”

All four looked into the crate and reached in to get their hands on some of the weapons inside. Brayden pulled out a Heavy Splatling, looking it over before making a nod of approval. Hazel and Fil picked out a pair of Dapple Dualies and a Splattershot respectively. And finally Andy chose an E-Liter 4K Scoped. He looked through the sights and smiled that they were just right for him.

“Now remember, these are rental weapons so don’t go losing or breaking them. I’d rather I not have to pay for damages,” Aeto joked as he grabbed a large duffel bag from his locker before slamming it shut. “Anyway just follow me to the tram and we’ll get on our way to the work area.” He watched as all of the freelancers readied their rentals and trailed behind the senior trainer through the back of the building and out a back door. There the group approached a large truck and piled in the back as Aeto took seat in the driver’s position, fired up the engines, and drove to Port Mackerel.

(A few hours later...)

“Hey, Mr. Aeto?” Andy called to the trainer. “Are we there yet?”

“We’re a few minutes from reaching the Spawning Grounds Andy. Why?” Aeto looked back from his spot on the boating wheel, the sea-worthy vessel the group was on cruising through green polluted waters.

“Oh... no reason.” He replied back as he held a hand to his mouth.

“Yeah,” Hazel grumbled to them, her face having lost some color since disembarking from Port Mackerel. 

“Oie, if you’re feeling seasick take one of these.” Without looking away from his post he reached for two small paper bags and waved them to the seasick pair. Almost immediately the inkling and octoling grabbed them and hurled their breakfast into it before closing it up.

“Thanks...” The two grimaced before tossing the filled bags into a trash can.

“Just sit back down in the cabin and take it easy,” Aeto motioned to a small room behind him. “I’ll let you know when we’re there.”

The now sickly duo took his advice and found a bunk bed inside and laid down on it. Meanwhile the other two recruits were staring out at the open waters, taking in the not so graceful sights around them.

“Geez, the seas here are gross,” Fil mumbled to Brayden. “There’s piles of trash all over the place.”

“Yeah,” Aeto yelled over the sound of the boat’s motor. “The Salmonids around these parts just let their waste and junk float back up to the surface. They’re not exactly ‘eco-friendly’.” 

“How come they make so much trash then?” Brayden asked out of curiosity.

“Good question but for another time,” Aeto powered down the boat’s motor to a slow drift. “We’re here freelancers.” He then knocked on the cabin door to get Andy’s attention. “C’mon, it’s time to show you how Salmon Running is done.” The octoling, feeling slightly less seasick, walked out and followed the group to the back of the boat.

“Now before we head to that big island you see over there,” He pointed behind them towards a large landmass. “There are a few things you need to know. One: the areas where we freelancers work in are surrounded by an unexplained barrier that prevents us from super jumping at will. So we have this giant satellite dish on this here vessel,” He motioned to them said device. “to temporarily break this barrier in order to send ourselves onto land.”

“So that means we can’t super jump to each other?” Fil cocked his head, a pang of worry in his eyes.

“No, but the islands we’ll be on are pretty small so super jumping is kind of redundant.”

“But what if we get in trouble?” Brayden pointed out.

“I’ll explain that later. Two: Each of you will be carrying Splat Bombs as your secondary weapons. Out of all the explosive subs we tested, Splat Bombs are the most effective when tackling the Salmonids.” 

“Why not something like Burst Bombs or Auto Bombs?” Brayden 

“Long story short, Mr. Grizz finds Splat Bombs to be the best,” Aeto shrugged the question off. “And three: Since this is a training run you won’t have to worry about being overrun by Salmonids. Understand?”

The group nodded in agreement.

“Great. Any more questions?”

“Uh...” Andy was about to raise his hand when Aeto clapped his together.

“Wonderful! Now everyone please stand on this platform behind me.” The senior trainer stepped forward to allow the freelancers some room to get on.

“Uh, Mr. Aeto? Are we going to have a lunch break when we’re done?” Andy tried to ask.

“Ready?” The inkling opened a panel on the satellite.

“W-wait you didn’t answer my question-”

He pressed a few buttons and reached for a lever.

“Mr. Aeto! Are we gonna have a break at all-”

He pulled the lever, which caused the dish to activate and started spinning. A moment later the group watched as the air around them momentarily wavered before it went back to normal. “Everyone, super jump to the island now!”

The four didn’t have time to ask any more questions as they all changed into their squid and octopus forms and flew away towards the isolated landmass. Aeto then reset the lever and reached for a pair of binoculars to see if they landed safely. It took him a moment to find all 4 flying towards the island before they landed on what they guessed was a landing pad. The four took a second to recover from their surprise flight and changed back to their bipedal forms.

“Ugh, my head...” Fil grumbled as he rubbed his temple.

“Ugh, my face...” Brayden groaned as he touched his nose.

“Oooh, my stomach...!” Andy held his gut before running to a trash bin and hurling once more into the container.

“...ome in freelancers! Ca... you hear me?” 

All four heard a static voice coming from around them.

“Did you guys hear that?” Hazel asked as she continued glancing around. Fil and Brayden nodded while Andy recovered from his episode of illness.

“Hold on... a sec.” Another moment passed as they heard more static and inaudible chatter until they heard Aeto clearly. “There, that should do it. Can you four hear my voice clearly now?”

“Yeah, we hear you loud and clear.” Hazel replied, grabbing a Dapple Dualie in one hand.

“Excellent, it looks like you all made it in one piece.”

“...mostly.” Andy mumbled.

“You’ll be alright Andy. Now take a good look around you,” The group did as such and saw that the island around them was more than just a patch of dirt in the sea. They saw several structures built around the landing pad, such as ramps, catwalks, and walls. “You are currently at the Spawning Grounds, one of the first locations where Salmonids go to migrate and... well spawn. You will also notice next to where you all landed a square metal panel.”

“You mean this thing?” The group looked to Brayden who was standing on top of it, a raised eyebrow looking down at it suspiciously.

“Yes Brayden, that square metal panel,” A moment later the panel opened up and a large cylindrical net popped out and launched the Splatling wielder into the air, falling back on the landing pad. “Don’t stand on the egg basket please. I told you that I really don’t want to pay for damaged property of Mr. Grizz.” 

“Ugh... sorry.” He stood back up while rubbing the back of his head. 

“No worries, just stick together and I’ll run you all through the training exercise.” The four heard a horn blow from the boat Aeto was in. “Alright, the first thing you’ll notice is that the egg basket is empty. Look around for a big glowing fish that’s holding a big frying pan.” 

They looked around but didn’t see any such creature. 

“We don’t see it.” Fil said as he glanced around the area.

“You’re gonna have to look for it yourself,” The trainer sighed. “Go check around those catwalks. There should be one hiding out over there.”

The group then headed to where Aeto suggested and, sure enough they saw a large gold-scaled fish wandering around. The late morning sun glimmered off its metallic body, causing the freelancers to stare at it in an almost trance-like state.

“Oie, noobies. Don’t just stare at it. You need to take it down to collect some Golden Eggs!” Aeto radioed to them, causing the group to snap back to reality.

“Uh, sorry.” Andy blinked his eyes until he could see clearly. He then aimed his charger and lined up his sights on the Salmonid. He took a moment to breathe out before releasing the trigger and-

SPLAT!

They watched as the toga-totting fish turned into an ink splotch on the ground as well as 3 glimmering orbs.

“Woah, those must be the Golden Eggs.” Fil muttered to his sister before heading down a ramp to get them.

“Wait, Fil!” Hazel yelled to her younger sibling, racing behind him. Brayden followed suit to grab an egg of his own leaving the octoling charger to watch their back. But as he watched his new squad mates he noticed that small bubbles were forming by the edge of the island next to the eggs. He aimed to them only to see another Salmonid popping out of the water and headed right for the eggs.

“Guys! Watch out!” Andy warned as he took aim at the intruding sea creature. The others stopped dead in their tracks to see it going straight for the eggs instead of them.

“It’s trying to steal the eggs!” Brayden prepped his Splatling while the other two made a mad dash for their objective. In what they felt was a small eternity, Andy lets loose another shot from his E-Liter while Brayden unleashes a torrent of ink shots. At the same time Hazel and Fil changed into their squid forms and grabbed hold of an egg each. The two looked up to see that the overwhelming firepower did more than enough to splat the Salmonid, leaving one last egg for Brayden to simply walk up and take.

“Alright!” Fil leapt up with joy as the others cheered. 

“Good job freelancers. Now get those gold goodies back to the basket and deposit them in.”

The three egg holders regrouped to Andy before heading towards the basket. As they stood by it a slot underneath the container opened up, allowing them to drop their prize in and see the eggs pop up within it. 

“That wasn’t so hard.” Fil chimed as he waved his Splattershot around.

“Trust me kid, this job is a lot tougher than it seems,” Aeto radioed in. “Don’t forget that this is just a training session.”

The four drew silent for a moment before they heard their comms crackle. 

“Now, what you just saw were Salmonids called a Goldie and a Snatcher. Obvious of what the big glowing fish is but the Snatcher will come ashore and try to steal any eggs you might leave out for too long. So be sure to collect as many Golden Eggs as you can.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Brayden calls to the others, his weapon in hand. The others nod with him approvingly.

“Looks like you all are ready for some more action,” they heard. “Now let’s see how you lot handle a wave of them Goldies.” A moment later a foghorn blew from the ship, followed by bubbles forming around the edges of the island. One by one the group watched as the bubbles slowly became Goldie Salmonids, leaving behind a thick, viscous green slime as they made their way inland.

“Let’s take them out!” Hazel rallied to her team as she ran down towards the beach section of the Spawning Grounds and immediately started taking on a pair of Goldies. 

“Well, you heard the lady. Take out those Goldies and get those eggs in freelancers!” The others heard Aeto order through their radios. They readied their ink weapons and joined Hazel, splatting the Goldies as they showed up. For several minutes Aeto watched from the boat as the recruits worked on their egg collecting. Andy stayed on top of a high wall and provided long range support by taking out sneaky Snatchers or lone Goldies that tried to ambush the others. Brayden took it upon himself to keep himself a good distance away from the shorelines, keeping the beach inked in their color. This left Hazel and Fil to the task of luring the Goldies in closer and grabbing eggs as quickly as they could. 

Not bad for a bunch of noobs. Aeto thought to himself, keeping an eye out behind them in case the Goldies attacked from a different angle. As he panned his view towards the docks section he noticed some bubbles forming by the far left pier. He was about to reach for his radio to warn the others when, instead of a Goldie coming up, he saw the all too familiar sight of a gigantic armored Salmonid with pipes protruding from its mouth that led to a launcher on top of its head.

“Freelancers look out behind you!” Aeto warned. The first to look was Andy and when his gaze fell upon the looming Salmonid closing in on him he yelped in horror and started to slowly back away. Brayden glanced back and saw the behemoth and turned his weapon to it, charging his weapon fully before blasting away. But he could only observe as his ink shots splashed harmlessly off the massive fish’s body.

“Uh, guys. What do we do?” Brayden gulped and backed up as well. Hazel and Fil stopped their egg harvesting and gazed in fear at the new Salmonid. 

“S-Sis, what is that?“ Fil stuttered, almost dropping his weapon.

“Everyone! Get back from that Salmonid!” Aeto called to them. “That’s a Steelhead! Attacking its armored body won’t do a thing!”

“Then what do we do?” Andy cried out. Just as he said that the Steelhead stopped moving and began to tremble. The octoling looked up and saw that the monster fish was gurgling green spit in its mouth, causing the charger user to almost vomit a third time. But he also noticed that a plastic sac was beginning to inflate on top of the Steelhead’s face.

“Quick Andy! Splat that inflating bomb before it launches it at you!” 

He reached for his E-Liter and aimed it right at the bomb. The others rushed to his aid and tried to distract the giant but to no avail, as the Salmonid filled the sac up with more slimy drool. Andy took one last moment to aim and let loose a discharge of ink and watched it pierce through the explosive. The Steelhead recoiled from the implosion and ruptured, leaving behind bits of armor and three eggs.

“You did it Andy! Well done!” Aeto sighed with relief, watching as the octoling stand up and pick up and egg.

“Thanks Mr. Aeto.” He chimed back with gratitude.

“Just call me Aeto, freelancers,” He chuckled and saw them deliver the remaining eggs left on the beach. “Good work you lot. Now head back to the launch pad and-”

He couldn’t finish talking as he saw the water around the Spawning Grounds beginning to fizzle and boil.

“What the...?” Aeto looked around and watched in utter shock as Boss Salmonids started to surface. More Steelheads began to approach along with lesser Salmonid Chums from the docks, Fly Fishes and Drizzlers popped up from the catwalk area and took positions by the far corners of the sector, and Scrappers charged their way up the beach, denying the recruits’ chances of an escape.

“W-what’s going on!” Fil quivered in his uniform as Hazel, Brayden, and Andy found themselves surrounded by very angry looking Salmonids.

“Hehehe,” One of the Steelheads approached the group with a sneering, cold-blooded grin. “Looks like the hunters have become the hunted!” The other Bosses laughed maniacally as they watched all four freelancers clump together in fear. “For too long we’ve been slaughtered for our eggs. Well,” It grabbed the nearest recruit, Brayden, by the life saver on his back and glared at him. “No longer will our people have to struggle to preserve our own kind.” The monstrous fish tossed the inkling back onto the ground and moved back with its waiting comrades. “Salmonids! Who wants a taste of some revenge?” The others roared with blood-thirsty cheers.

“Hang on you guys!” Aeto tried to reassure them as he dashed to the boat’s cabin. He reached under the bunk bed and pulled out a metal locker, grabbing hold of his own custom charger: the Splat Bolt Action. Please, just hang on a few more seconds! He rushed outside and, hastily switching on the satellite, super jumped to the landing pad on the island.

“G-guys, I’m scared!” Andy huddled close to his coworkers as the Scrappers boxed them in. The Steelheads then began to inflate their bombs, the Fly Fishes opened up their rocket pods, and the Drizzlers aimed their Ink Storm mortars. But just as the Salmonids were about to unleash their attack, Aeto landed behind them all and whistled to the fishes.

“Hey! You leave them alone you slime-sucking freak shows!” The entire island’s occupants looked towards the source of the shout and saw another inkling gazing towards the confused Salmonids. “Recruits, get down now!” They did as he told and hid in an ink puddle. Aeto aimed his charger and fired away, his shots penetrating the Steelheads’ armored plating and causing them all to get splatted. With each shot he cocked back a bolt on his charger, ejecting a glass tube, and loaded another ink cartridge before resuming his onslaught. He redirected his fire at the Scrappers and blasted them to pieces. Reloading his Bolt Action, he scoped in on the Drizzlers’ mortars and disabled them in seconds, leaving them utterly defenseless before piercing their umbrella-shaped shields and killing them instantly. Finally he saw the remaining Bosses, the Fly Fishes, realize their dire situation and attempted to flee. But the sharpshooter ran towards the now retreating Fly Fishes and annihilated the airborne assailants with swift and deadly accurate shots to the pilots. In less than 60 seconds Aeto had single-handedly wiped out the Boss Salmonids, protecting the recruits and leaving behind dozens of Golden Eggs. The senior freelancer took one more scan of the Spawning Grounds and, satisfied that no more Salmonids were present to harass them, holstered his weapon and met up with the others.

“Hey, you four alright?” He checked each of them for any injuries as they changed back into their bipedal forms.

“Y-yeah....” Andy stared at Aeto, though unsure if it was awe or fear he felt at this point.

“How... how did you take out all of those big scary Salmonids?” Fil repeatedly hopped up and down with excitement. “That was awesome!”

“Don’t worry about that, alright?” He patted the young inkling on the shoulder. “Just collect all the eggs around here and head back to the boat when you’re done. I’ll keep watch to make sure no more Salmonids show up, okay?”

They all nodded and headed off in pairs to gather the eggs. Aeto stood by the basket and kept a close eye on all of them while in deep thought. 

Why did all those Salmonids attack? The training session was only suppose to have Goldies show up... In a few minutes the last of the eggs were harvested and accounted for. Aeto closed up the basket and motioned for them all to head back. But as he was about to super jump back he noticed something peaking out from the ink a few meters away. He walked up to the mysterious object and pulled it out, seeing that it was actually some sort of recording device.

What in the world is this...? He thought and examined the device over. But his train of thought was interrupted when he heard the recruits calling him through the radio to hurry up. He took one last glance around him before pocketing it in his satchel and joined the others, sailing off to Inkopolis.

[dirtdiggersanddinosaurs]

#Press Trip

Just So 2019 will go down in history, maybe because it was the 10th birthday of the now well established festival, but mainly because it was the year of ALL THE MUD! It certainly was NOT for the faint hearted! I‘ll quickly explain that this was our first time at Just So…and, did the conditions put us off? Did they heck! I’m not gonna lie, it made getting around the site with a trolley and a baby in a stroller much much harder, but we got a free workout (I used muscles I didn’t know I had!), and the boys absolutely loved doing their best ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ impressions squelching through the deep oozy mud!

In fact, from what I saw there were A LOT of mud loving littles about. I might suggest to organisers Wild Rumpus that from now on they create a mud pit area regardless of the weather so that we can chuck the kids in while us parents relax nearby on dry land!

We had an absolutely amazing weekend despite [or maybe because of] the mud. Full of magic, fun and laughter. Just So Festival really is the perfect place to spend some quality time together as a family.

These were our favourite muddy moments:

Dressing Up and Letting Go

We decided to go big or go home and threw ourselves into the craziness of the Just So tribal tournament, we were all kitted out as a shimmering shoal of five fish – read how I made our costumes here. For those of you planning a Just So adventure, I highly recommend dressing up letting go of your inhibitions.

Seeing herds of stags, swarms of bees and some roarsome lions strolling around the aptly named Spellbound Forest, really is truly magical. A sight you’ll honestly never forget, and your photos will look absolutely amazing too!

Feeding the fish

Eli small fry

It was like being part of a real life fairytale and really helped us to see the wonder of the weekend through our childrens eyes. Stanley really got involved and was instantly drawn to other fishy families, we enjoyed a game of Giant Guess Who with some fellow fish team mates and won a golden pebble in a wager! Woo hoo!

The humongous Tribal Scoreboard situated on The Village Green is updated throughout the weekend as golden pebbles are handed in to Tribal leaders and counted.

Keeping Score!

We earned pebbles for our costumes, picking up somebody elses litter when the wind blew it away, for the Guess Who game, and then for ingenious costume repairmanship using duck tape – note to self: need to vastly improve sewing skills! I’m still not sure if there are any hard and fast rules on how to earn pebbles but it’s certainly fun trying.

Meeting our Tribal leader blub blub blub!

Stanley really was rooting for the fish team to win and was cheering us on all weekend, he also got involved in some lighthearted taunting of the other teams too. We came 5th overall, the Foxes bagged 1st place this year! I think it teaches children a great lesson about competition, teamwork, loyalty and doing your best.

Getting Our Groove On

One of the things we all agreed on when we looked at the programme was that we wanted to take in as much live music as possible. We joyfully discovered at Timber Festival that we have two little groovers on our hands.

My little fish swimming at High Seas

The Footlights stage was at High Seas and after a true trek to get there via the mud (it was at it’s worst at this point), a toilet stop, more mud, then skirting around the field with the trolley, and a bit more mud we finally set up our ‘base’. After all that effort it made sense to stay put for a bit and it was a great excuse to enjoy the music, we were also reasonably close to a bar and some yummy food vendors – perfect!

The Baghdaddies’ exuberant and rampant brand of world music is an exhilarating cocktail of Balkan melodies, ska and latin grooves and sizzling brass played with furious energy and theatrical humour, making them as unforgettable on stage as they are when performing as wandering brass troubadours. They take themselves incredibly seriously so you don’t have to…

The Baghdaddies blew us away, they got everybody (including us) up on their feet and dancing! The lyrics are also hilarious, and you cant help but smile. It’s pure feel good music!

We also caught Harry Bird & The Rubber Wellies who again provided a very toe tapping mix of folk inspired sea shanties, Mexican rancheras and reggae. And finally Mr. Tea & The Minions for some gypsy flavoured party music. Not your average playlist eh?

One of the Baghdaddies songs included the line ‘Have a Tequila son’ which Eli took literally!

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering, YES mud does make dancing in a field absolutely 100% more enjoyable if your aged 5 and 2!

We also tried out the silent disco hosted by Our Kids Social in the Flamingo Lounge. My boys weren’t sure at first and found it all a bit odd, but they soon got into the swing of it for a bit of oops upside your head! There was a parents vs kids dance off battle that got very animated – think Dadtastic air guitar moves on one side with some fierce flossing on the other. Great fun!

And finally, it was a bit of a surprise when my cautious 5 year old wanted to try out Circus Swing! So on Sunday we had a lesson in swing dancing that included some neat circus tricks too. I only dropped him on his head once while he did the no hands cartwheel over my legs, so I’m calling that a win!

I love the fact that Stanley was willing to try out new things, James has experienced a silent disco at the ripe old age of 2 and that we all got to listen to some excellent live music.

Singing Along

Watching David Gibb perform in the natural amphitheatre of the Woodland Theatre on with Stanley was my highlight of the weekend. He’s not a big fan of sitting still but the combination of catchy tunes, audience participation and easy to remember lyrics meant that we made it through the entire performance with big smiles on our faces.

We learned all about bats, discovered that we (and the rest of the audience) couldn’t count to five, became roses and showed off our muscles. Stanley also became a huge fan of Teddy at the Disco and has been singing it on repeat ever since. We sat next to our good friends over at Typical Mummy (there’s nothing like sharing a plastic poncho to sit on, to really cement a friendship) and we were all happily singing along together.

It was during this performance that I experienced what I’ll always remember as the Just So spirit, a real sense of camaraderie. The steep incline of the Woodland Theatre plus wet ground made it more than a bit treacherous underfoot. Getting in and out was no easy task and to this purpose I saw children being passed along rows, hands and arms being offered to help steady balance and people sharing seating arrangements to ensure everyone had a great time. There was a real sense of we’re in this togetherness, the mud was not going to stop anyone having fun!

I’m happy to say we now have David’s new album Rolling down the Road (released 23rd August) winging it’s way to us (order yours here) and also Climb that Tree for our Teddy at the Disco fix – my car journeys are never going to be the same again!

Slowing Down

In a way the conditions did us a favour, it made us really think about what we wanted to see and do. Most of Saturday was spent in and around High Seas and the nearby Roll Up Roll Up simply due to logistics, we took in the music as I’ve previously mentioned but we also watched Clown about Town which thoroughly entertained the boys and only mildly terrified me (she was absolutely lovely but I’m not a fan of clowns!)

A clown on the run, wanted for a crime she didn’t commit. In trying to prove her innocence, she finds that the silver lining is daring to be yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. A joyous celebration of what it is to be human with slap-stick comedy, puppets and silly dancing!

Even I admit that the overly theatrical blood scenes (not as bad as it sounds, honest!) were really funny! This then inspired Daddy and the boys to wade over to the big top to try their hand at some circus skills while I stayed with a snoozing Eli.

Again, after watching David Gibb in the Woodland Theatre we ambled to The Spellbound Forest via the Corn Shack and settled in to watch our old favourites at Campfire Stories. I’d been eyeing up the huge corn cobs all weekend and me and Stan treated ourselves on Sunday – they were absolutely delicious!

We love Ian Douglas and have been lucky enough to sit and listen to his stories at several different events so he was an easy and relaxing watch while we nibbled away.

Then it was onto our crazy haired friend Professor Pumpy-Knickers Pumpernickel who we first encountered at Timber Festival. Once again he was thoroughly entertaining, and made the forest come alive with explosive science!

Embracing the Eccentricity

Just So proved to be just as bonkers as we were expecting – we’ve experienced nothing else like it! One thing we definitely wanted to catch was the lantern parade on Saturday evening. We didn’t make a lantern at the workshop as we’d heard that it gets very busy but we were armed with our Jelly fish umbrellas which lit up and looked the part.

Well, it’s hard to describe the spectacle that was the lantern parade, there was a clog wearing lady singing and dancing with some enormous Ghost Caribou. Then, the Baghdaddies arrived, the Caribou suddenly lit up and off we went, following the craziness towards Footlights!

Over the weekend we also bumped into the Dream Antelopes, Boudicca in her chariot (the moving puppet/sculpture horse was AMAZING) and got soaked as water pistol wielding passengers sped past in Vesaqua, shooting at us as they went. What’s Vesaqua? It’s a bathtub on wheels attached to a 1966 Vespa of course!

Vesaqua

Anything We Would Change?

The weather played such a huge part this year that I’m not sure what a ‘normal’ Just So looks and feels like. I would have liked a few more seating areas – we took chairs luckily, but pulling them around in the trolley was really hard work because of the ground conditions. I’m assuming that there are usually more hay bales dotted about to perch on but again due to the weather these were probably repurposed as ground cover on the worst affected areas.

The golden pebbles – are still a complete mystery to us! I don’t know who can give them out, or what they can be earned for! Having said that I’m not sure if a full explanation of this via the programme or a information board would take the magic away? It felt like a secret that you had to learn about from fellow more experienced Just So’ers…but maybe that’s the point, to get people talking and build a community of seasoned Just So families? I will say this – once you’ve earned one it quickly becomes a quest to get more, it’s so addictive!

And Finally…

There you have it, if you want to let go of the stresses of everyday life then this is the festival for you. You can completely immerse yourself in a bubble of make believe for an entire weekend. Got kids? Then it’s a super family friendly festival (mud aside), it has everything to entertain little ones and baby changing, bathing and quiet areas too. We can’t wait for next year!

Earlybird tickets for Just So Festival 2020 (21/22/23 August 2020) will be available from TODAY (Friday 30th August). Visit the Just So Festival website to grab yours.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the team at Wild Rumpus, the volunteers and site staff who when faced with almost biblical conditions on Friday went the extra mile to ensure people got on and off the site safely and pushed cars out of the mud, all with a smile on their faces.

Disclosure: we were invited to attend Just So Festival by Wild Rumpus as part of their Press Team. Our weekend tickets were gifted in exchange for a review of our experience and promotion across my social media channels. All opinions are my own. All images and media are my own.

Five Go to Just So! 2019 Festival Review #Press Trip Just So 2019 will go down in history, maybe because it was the 10th birthday of the now well established festival, but mainly because it was the year of…

[uterusclub]

Hot, Chicago summers are generally, not very fun but somehow, we manage. This past month was nothing short of spectacular – even despite the sweltering, blistering, hell heat. We kicked the month off with a visit to the very critically acclaimed Par-King miniature golf course out in Lincolnshire. Solely based off of the reviews on this place, expectations were HIGH. To ensue extra, satisfaction, I purchased a Groupon for an Indian Restaurant by the name of Marigold Maison through whom we purchased some bag-insulated yummers for dinner. I’ll save you the suspense and tell you the food was not good. Although I’m fairly certain we’ve become tikka masala snobs at this point. Service was super awkward as well as the restaurant has a grocery attached to it with shelved goods that look as though they’d been there for god knows how long. In any case, I wouldn’t venture there ever again. But back to the golfing. We arrived mid-day on a Wednesday in hopes of beating any summer-time crowds. And much to our delight, the place was not busy at all. I will say we were gravely disappointed in the different themed courses that felt very lacking – especially after reading of the reputation of this joint. The literal best thing about the entire course was the ‘roller coaster’ hole which well, Sharon grabbed some awesome video of so be sure to check that out in the montage (shameless plug). I would consider trying it again – maybe with the other course since the ‘cooler’ holes were all on the other game option. Let’s also take into account that Sharon was dealing with some mental and emotional bullshit right before we started playing so she wasn’t exactly in the right mind-set to even attempt enjoying the golf of minisculeness.

And then there was the Fourth of July. Which well, we usually don’t do much for – simply based on the elements of too many people being out and about in the world doing dumb and annoying things. But for some reason or rather, the lure of a Paranormal Circus presenting itself to us, did we become much bolder this year. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The day started off with a bit of work-from-home since I’m commission-based and don’t get PAID on days off. Following that, I believe the boozing commenced which involved a lovely rendition of Berry Vodka reminiscent of snow cone syrup. Following that, we baked some pre-bought chips and ate some previously purchased pasta and potato salads while we vegged on the couch to enjoy the down time.

Once it became a decent hour to leave, we headed out to the Paranormal Cirque located out in Orland Park. I had read that there was a pre-show to the event so of course, we arrived hella early (pun intended). Gates weren’t even open as we reached the mall parking lot where dark tents had been resurrected. Twas quite a strange sight, really. But we enjoyed taking pictures and videos of the tented darkness awaiting us. Once we were finally allowed in, we entered the main tent area where a table was set up selling masks. There was also a face painter in the corner adjacent which I considered partaking in but the artist was taking far way too long for my liking. As we stood around in the main area awaiting this ‘pre-show,’ we noticed a Mad-Max, steam-punk looking little person riding around on an electric wheelchair. She’d speed up close to unsuspecting victims, point her gun and scare creepily at them before slowly backing away. It was cool for the first couple minutes but eventually, we came to the conclusion that there really WAS no pre-show.

After we were finally allowed into the show arena, we met several, random performers who were entertaining, yes, but nothing extravagant. Once seated in our front-row elitist-ship, we watched a little person clown walk around and harass random people. He quite enjoyed throwing popcorn at me. As the time dwindled on, we become more and more annoyed with the fact that yet again, another show was NOT going to start on time. Sadly, the venue wasn’t very packed either. Once the show resumed, we were mildly entertained. The man ‘comedic’ character was hilarious but the crassness of the show was a bit too much for our liking. As such, we darted out at intermission to enjoy a colorful, sky extravaganza on our way home.

Next on the party-bus roster for July was Garden a Go Go – a burlesque show that sounded most intriguing. Situated in a warehouse-looking building in Humboldt Park (a clear indication nothing good could possibly come of us), we again, arrived very early in anticipation of much awesomeness. Unfortunately, our $20 donation didn’t seem worthwhile for the non-air-conditioned frenzy of annoyance we were met with. Granted, there was a very awesome hoop aerialist doing some ‘pre-show’ performance while we yet again, waited the untimely nature of the production. We sat and sweated and listened to DJ-ed music accompanied very ineloquently by a saxophone player. Not even the sax could save our spirits. Let me also point out that drink tickets were mandatory and that no bottled water was available. After staying to watch the show until, literally, we finished watching the Abraham Lincoln performance, we left immediately and pondered actually picking up and dropping off a case of water for the poor souls continuing to suffer without quench.

As remedy to our disappointment for the Garden a No No, I suggested we stop off at my most beloved Sidekicks for a drink and song. Sharon was most agreeable and we headed over. This night was COMPLETELY turned around by this decision. Not only did we become cool with the karaoke guru, Joe, but we made friends with my waitress’s friends, Bart and Maria who were the coolest people ever. Bart was literally creating self-echoes over the mic and ended up buying us buttery-nipple shots at one point. I even discovered one of my dance student’s moms also waitresses there! Talk about your small world! Had a blast. We would end up at Sidekicks two more times that month. The second was just as fun. The last was well, not as anticipated but all in all, it’s a great default place to scout out any time. Ah concerts. How I do loathe thee – unless you are outdoors and I have plenty of personal space which is precisely what we achieved this month! We grabbed some super cheap tickets for Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park for 311 even though we were actually going for the opening bands. After having our sunscreen and bug spray discarded my security (doh) and having to walk the perimeter of the joint to get the correct ‘will call’ window, I paid way too much for plastic mason jars of vodka. Lawn seat were spectacular and we came prepared with Skip-Bo which, due to wind complication, involved putting every item we owned on every card pile to prevent throw-aways. The opening bands were good up until the last one before 311 at which point, we could not muster the will for it was quite horrendous. It was strange to pack up before the main band but quite satisfactory.

Ravinia. Can’t go wrong. Every year I try to make it a point to find SOMEONE to see here. Again, lawn seats are the absolute best for comfort. We again arrived with Skip-BO after venturing to Viaggio in Highland Park for some take-away dinner goods. The place was PACKED for arriving at 5 o’clock on a Sunday! I’d never seen it so full so early on in the day. But we valiantly made our way around the venue until we found a sufficient spot to lay our wares. The music performance was The Music of Queen with a vocalist named Brody Dolyniuk who, was an awesome singer but horrendous speaker. Guy sounded like an infomercial. Several songs into the performance and after battling a swat of flies whom invaded one suspicious corner of our blanket, we headed out.

I never claim to be of Irish descent, although, my brother allegedly found out our family is a small percentage Irish, but that has never been necessary for partaking in the Irish Fest held every year at The Irish Heritage Center. We grabbed some food at a local spot conveniently across the street from Sidekicks, Old Irving Brewing Co. before making our way to the Irish Fest. After arriving we observed the place to be very much dead – which is always in our favor. We immediately grabbed drinks and headed to the outdoor tent area to take a gander at the vendors and musical performances. Sharon entered us in a Trip to Ireland drawing which we clearly didn’t win. We popped upstairs to take a look at the indoor exhibits and watched some Irish dancing for a hot second before heading out an inevitably ending up at Sidekicks (which we’ve previously discussed).

What better way to spend a Tuesday evening than drinking and BINGO’ing? It’s not often I have Tuesday evenings available due to dance scheduling so we took advantage of an opportunity to visit Eris Brewery and Cider House for their special BINGO event. We’d previously been here for their cider and were a bit underwhelmed. The same was true this most recent go. But I will say, their sweet potato waffle fries with bacon and a bunch of other awesome stuff were off the CHAIN! SO good! BINGO involved maybe three tables including ours, there were about 11 of us total? And it STILL took several people leaving before Sharon’s ‘luck’ kicked in during the last three games. Brian, a brewer, was the caller who was most entertaining. His gibberish between games was hilarious – until he went on tangents about making cider at which point, I was buzz, tired, and pissed I hadn’t won and therefore, was no longer amused. Sharon came away with a t-shirt and a bunch of other, random, useless items. I came away with much embitterment, per usual.

If you’re ever looking for a delish, Philly’s cheesesteak, look no further than Monti’s near Albany Park. I loved this place since the first time I tried it. It’s cute, carefree and I’ve never experienced bad service. After parking a bit away and trekking endlessly in the blistering sun, we arrived, grab some $5 martinis and consumed some delicious goods! Martinis take #2 underwent and buzzed, we headed off to the second event for the night: K. Karaoke and Paint. Because what could POSSIBLY be better than drinking, painting AND singing? Oh yeah, yes, it’s also BYOB so we grabbed our insulated Moscow mule cans from the car and walked a short way to the storefront. Once inside, we grabbed our seats, iced some cups and awaited the rest of the attendees. Eventually, we began our painting project of a sunflower in between which, I sang a song or two. The more we boozed, the more ‘creative’ our paintings became. At one point, Sharon was beckoned to the make-shift dance-floor at which time, everyone forgot what they were doing. At the very end of the event, you guessed it, we headed to Sidekicks (again, already covered this) and ultimately, took our paintings back home where I drunkenly decided to leave our art work outside the doorstep of our old-lady neighbor, as a gift. The following morning I barely remember this act of generosity and to this day wonder just what she was thinking when she noticed them.

We were very much looking forward to attending the Bristol Renaissance Faire this month, however, due to the heat severity, we determined it would not be the greatest idea to do so in July. As a replacement, however, we decided to get some tattoos. Sharon acquired a bridge and I, a sheep. Not a bad time for a lazy, hot Saturday.

The month of July was wrapped up with a few cat themes. Poor monkey-bear was taken to the vet due to violent, butt-licking tendencies which resulted in some prescribed laxative and pain medication. He’s doing much better now. I believe the demons haunting his butthole have vacated. Aside from that, we took in a performance of Cats downtown at the Nederlander Theatre. So here’s the thing on that. I don’t get it. I’ve never gotten it. Every time I try to understand that show, it fails. I couldn’t understand a damn thing the actors were sing/saying other than ‘Jellicle Cats’ which til this day, I still don’t know what the hell they are! Does anyone? Someone respond to this blog with an explanation please. Again, we left at intermission, very glad to have at LEAST experienced ‘Memories’ which is always a good, inner cry.

All in all, not a bad month – despite my obvious, aforementioned bitching. Complications and let-downs aside, nothing was going to stop these queens from enjoying this sexy, hot summer.

First-Act Queens Hot, Chicago summers are generally, not very fun but somehow, we manage. This past month was nothing short of spectacular – even despite the sweltering, blistering, hell heat.

[mystichoneybuddhachips]

Could I request an imagine where the RFA+V+Saeran are jealous of MC. Like they see someone flirting with her or see her treating someone with care and they just get really jealous?

okay this got way too long so i’m gonna put the rest under a cut after yoosung’s LOL i wrote freaking novels oh my god

Yoosung:

he actually gets jealous really easily

never forget yandere yoosung

you visited him on campus once and a lot of his classmates got lowkey crushes on you

some had highkey crushes and worked up the courage to go talk to you they moved in packs cause they were nervous

“hey there, are you an incoming transfer student? ;)”

“ah, no… i’m looking for kim yoosung?”

their eyes went wide before they burst into smiles

“oooooh, so this is our yoosung’s infamous girlfriend? we almost couldn’t believe it. i swear, he never stops talking about you”

in the distance, you swear you heard feet stomping before yoosung practically threw himself between you and his classmates

“noooo!!! she’s mine, my girlfriend!!”

you and them are all laughing as he shoos them away before leading you towards the entrance

then he starts apologizing a billion times 

“i’m sorry, did they make you uncomfortable? they’re good guys, though. really!” 

“no, they seemed friendly… do you really talk about me that much at school?”

he goes red in the face and starts stammering like a madman

“n-no, i mean… yes, but it’s all… i like talking about you! but if you don’t like it, i’ll stop!!”

you laugh and say it’s fine, you think it’s cute, and he starts blushing even more

turns out it’s lunch break so he offers to show you around the school

although he holds your hand the entire time and doesn’t let go

if an oblivious male student tries to make conversation, you can literally feel him bristling like a little porcupine next to him

you think it’s cute though, lowkey

Zen:

if he could, he’d carry around a swatter so he could bat away any guy that tried going near you

basically all of your dates in public are 85% you both enjoying the date 5% zen dealing with approaching fans and 10% zen giving major side eye to any guy that’s staring at you too long 

although his possessive instincts got worse after one particular incident

you two were taking a walk around the park late in the afternoon after his rehearsals 

 there were still people hanging around the plaza, so he wore a mask and tucked in his hair under a cap to be more discreet 

he noticed an ice cream cart vendor still hanging around nearby, so he offered to go buy some cones 

you ain’t about to turn down dessert so you agree and wait on a bench in the plaza while he rushes offuntil a pair of slightly tipsy dudes saunter over to you and ask for your number 

you’re all “sorry nope i’d rather not” but they’re annoyingly persistent and loud

they try to sit on the bench with you so you get up to move except they get up and block your way again 

at this point, you’re considering kicking them in the shins when it happens 

you catch zen stalking over from behind the dudes before he not-so-accidentally shoulders between them, ice cream cones in hand 

they both stumble to the ground, swearing at 95 mph 

zen’s too busy handing you both ice creams to hear them anyways 

now they’re pissed off, hauling themselves back up and ready to reach for him 

when zen whips around, yanks off his face mask and pulls off his cap 

you could literally see both men’s eyes widen at how good-looking zen was 

some girls in the distance are now screaming cause they recognized zen but he’s too busy glaring lasers into the two people in front of him 

you know he’s glaring because they both shrunk back slightly, and you swear the shock of it all sobered them up 

although some people were already racing up with their cellphones, so you finally step next to zen and tap his shoulder with your free hand 

“uh, zen? people are watching” 

zen finally glances towards you, a grin growing on his face 

“good” 

he slings an arm around your shoulder before turning back towards the two, who were just blinking like who tf is this guy why are we being surrounded by screaming girls 

and then zen goes “thanks for keeping my girlfriend company while i was gone. i’d rather not be violent and ruin our date tonight, so consider yourselves lucky.”

his fans are good ppl and don’t chase after him as he leads you away from the park, to your relief

once you two were walking back on the street, you’re laughing at how funny the whole situation was

it was like some scene out a drama

zen was pouting for a bit that those guys tried advancing on you, but he soon loosened up and started laughing too

by that time, both of the ice cream cones had half-melted, but neither of you minded

Jaehee:

she tends to keep things to herself, even when something’s bothering her

and usually, she dealt with it on her own, even though you always ask her to rely on you once in a while

one time you were communicating with a potential party guest, and you two really hit it off

he was a real friendly and fun person to chat with, so he sometimes called you up to chat instead of just messaging

one phone call happened in the evening at home 

you were sprawled on the sofa while she was at the dinner table on her laptop

you didn’t notice anything was amiss until she suddenly walked disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a cup of coffee

she marched over and placed it on the small table in front of the sofa next to you

you slightly tilt the phone away to look at her questioningly and whisper “coffee?”

“you looked tired, i thought this could give you a boost”

“but it’s almost 8pm, i won’t be able to sleep if i drink this”

jaehee looks slightly dejected, but nods

she says “apologies, i forgot how late it was” before taking the cup to her table for herself

now you feel bad for making her sad, but suddenly remember you’re still on the phone and hurriedly go back to answer the guest

you want to go cheer jaehee up so you’re trying to find the right time to hang up but he keeps talking

until suddenly jaehee pipes up from where she’s sitting and goes “could you come and check over this itinerary? it’s almost finalized”

you grab the chance and tell the guest you have something to do, and finally end the call

but when you march over, there’s no itinerary on her screen

“did you send it already…?”

“ah no, i still have to add some things to it, so there’s not much to review yet”

it slowly dawns on you and you grin really wide 

“jaehee… were you jealous?”

she doesn’t turn to look at you, but you ain’t missing the way her ears were going red

“of course not, you were simply doing business with a potential guest. although i must point out that upon looking into his financial history, he does not have a reputable credit…”

you laugh and hug her from behind, feeling her relax and bit and chuckle too

she was right about the guest he was drowning in debt too so you ended up not inviting him, and everyone was happy

Jumin:

look up “possessive” in the dictionary and a picture of Jumin Han will appear next to the definition

will not forgive any man who dares to make moves on you

god help them if they try it in front of him

he’s stuck to your side most of the time you two go outside on a date

although he gets especially territorial when you’re shopping at a mall or something

since you’ll be wandering around looking at the items on sale, you’re bound to encounter different people

but if someone - especially a guy - looks like he’s about to ask for that yung phone number, jumin pops up out of nowhere and literally shuts them down

one second it’s just you and some random guy hanging out by a store shelf as he starts to say “hey, i think you’re really cute. do you think we could exchange info and maybe grab a cup of–”

a wild jumin appears! 

he’ll just… pop up like a gopher before glaring at the guy and going “no”

this happens every time some guy tries flirting with you

you swear he has some kind of radar 

one time he accidentally did it to a salesperson he didn’t regret it though

although when he’s feeling particularly jealous, he copes by buying you everything

i’m talking rows of clothes/shoes/jewelry getting purchased in one go

you’re like “jumin NO” but he just pulls out his credit card and goes “jumin yes”

you end up returning almost everything the next day anyways

if he’s still sulking by the time you two get home, though, you’re sure to cuddle him and reassure him that you love him only

and that helps him stop the sulking and restore the happiness

707:

this boy goes from Not Jealous to Jealous Hacker Meme Master™ real quick

it’s a rare mode that is not easily unlocked, but it’s memorable when it happens

one special moment was when you had to actually go and meet an RFA guest in person

he was fine with it until you mentioned that you two were having lunch before taking a stroll around town while you talked

“wait, this sounds like a date!!”

“it’s not, he says it’s just formalities so that we get along well”

“that’s a date!!!!!”

by the end of the conversation he’s actively clinging to your leg while you struggle to reach the door

you swear that it’s just a meeting, and even offer for him to check on you once in a while if it makes him feel better

he finally lets you go at that, sending you off with teary eyes and a kiss/hug

you and the RFA guest have a peaceful lunch

that is, until your phone suddenly starts beeping nonstop

you’re like wtf and unlock your phone when a pixelated cartoon of seven bounces around your screen

suddenly your phone starts saying “i love seven!” with some upbeat cartoon music playing in the background

okay it’s actually kind of cute but you’re in a public cafe and the thing’s so loud

thankfully it stops after like 20 seconds, and you two laugh it off

the guy’s like “i’m guessing that’s the ringtone for your boyfriend?”

and you’re all “hahaha… yeah… ringtone…”

the walk around town isn’t that eventful - you two just chat a bit about his occupation and you explain a bit about the party

but at the end, he asks to add your number so that he can contact you about any additional questions

you’re fine with it, but when he tries to save your contact information, he frowns when he phone suddenly blares on error sound

to your horror, you can hear seven’s voice from his phone

“Greetings, dear RFA guest! Unfortunately, this precious number is not allowed to be stored onto your cellular device! Please try again with a different phone number! By the power of God Seven, please accept this photo of Longcat instead! Goodbye!!”

there’s a loooong silence after the message as you both stare at his phone

and as promised, a photo of Longcat suddenly pops up on his lockscreen

you’re busy trying not to laugh apologizing to him, but he’s already laughing, finding the thing hilarious

he amends by saying he’ll email you professionally instead, and thanks you for the interesting meeting

also asks you to send his regards to your boyfriend

you go home to a smug seven sitting in his desk chair

you can’t even get mad at him, and he’s lowkey relieved you’re not

the two of you spend the rest of the night chilling in bed and watching cheesy movies together

V:

a really jealous V is a one in a million moment

literally so rare

since he’s too pure to be tainted with such a thing like envy

so even when he does get jealous, it’s like a really mild form of it

for the most part, he’s the type to just silently sulk about it

if you two are out in public, he’ll do his darnedest to make sure he’s holding your hand or your shoulder

and then once you’re home, he asks if he could just sit on the sofa with you

by “sit on the sofa with you” he means “you sit on the sofa while he hugs you forever”

you can tell when he’s feeling jealous though, cause he goes extremely quiet and always wants to hug you 24/7 

during those times you like to hug him back and just continuously tell him why you love him to make him feel better

and it works, even though he always insists that he wasn’t feeling jealous

it’s hella cute when he does it though, so you just let him say that

he also goes on a picture-taking spree when he’s feeling a bit jealous of you chatting it up with another guy

makes sure that the flash is on when he snaps a picture of you

the guys all confused as to why he took a picture

and V just goes “ah, sorry. i was trying to take a photo of my girlfriend. she looked particularly stunning just now”

and at the point, the other party immediately realizes the situation and backs off

thanks to that, there’s lots of extra candids of you talking with some random guy hiding in a box in V’s room

Saeran:

um if you make the mistake of provoking a jealous saeran, you better start ordering a casket

he won’t even give the guy a chance to save himself if he tries flirting with you out in the open

he’ll just casually move you aside and take your place in front of the guy before going “back off before things get ugly”

that paired with his soul-destroying glare is usually enough to scare everyone off

except one time in front of a small movie theater, a particular brave soul didn’t back down

instead, he puffed up his chest and just smirked

“what’s with you, goth boy. her boyfriend or something?”

you’re slightly ticked off now, stepping forward and glaring at him

“he is, actually.”

the guy’s surprised, but laughs it off

“seriously? him? come on, i think i could be a better match for you.”

at this point you’re about the roast this guy to the ends of the earth when saeran places a hand on your shoulder and asks you to go buy the tickets for you two

you catch the expression on his face and know better than to stick around so you head to the ticket booth while whispering a silent prayer for the guy

and then saeran steps forward so that he’s nearly touching noses with the guy

proceeds to give him the most fear-inducing and heart-shriveling look

honestly, the guy was about to pee himself, but just barely held it together

“you have two choices. either leave right now and hope you never cross paths with us again, or i can ruin your life in every way imaginable.”

the guy knows saeran’s dead serious too, so he just books it out of there

and saeran simply walks back to the ticket booth where you’re waiting, takes your hand, and starts heading towards the theater room

you didn’t hear what he said, but you still loved watching it happen

[card-gays]

Aaaaaaah, thanks for answering, that was so good! I love it. I actually squeaked, "They name her Amane, don't hurt me like this!" At the end because that was too sweet! I wasn't gonna ask about Prideship because I didn't want to spam your askbox, but your addendum about Atem's reaction to Kaiba saying their honeymoon could be at the space station was So Good that I /have/ to know, if you don't mind answering: what about Prideship?

I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! And akdfslkdj yeah sorry for the baby Amane feels but I just.. I love that headcanon A Lot. Hope the sweetness balanced it out ^^;

Now on to the goods… >w>

(fair warning, I said it’d be about a mile long, and I uh.. I delivered.)

PRIDESHIP & MARRIAGE

Atem and Kaiba are complicated people. Complicated in a way that means they tend to make better sense to one another than they ever do to anyone else. Which means, even to those closest to them, their relationship remains an enigma. Atem trying to tell Yugi about the significance of Kaiba’s wording makes him sound like a conspiracy theorist, except he’s actually totally right. Kaiba trying to explain to Mokuba in the first few months why it’s important that they don’t use the guest room Atem prefers for anyone else sounds.. equally like he’s completely projecting his feelings and imagining importance. And yet, he too, is totally right.

So one could see the fact that they operate a lot on subtleties a lot of the time, the sort of coded mutual understandings that only work between two people that somehow ask and answer each other’s thoughts multiple times throughout the series without explanation, and assume it will take awhile for them to grow as close as they clearly want to. The ultimate regency romance modern AU, essentially. But.. the reality is less simple. They’re more used to losing things than having them, so when they’re ready to accept how important they are to each other, they don’t really feel like wasting time. But they’re also far too nervous to be direct.

Which means Atem spends a great deal more time at Kaiba Manor than people would have expected, Kaiba takes a lot more off of his plate at work to make that be time together than anyone could have guessed. Atem stays late, and often, and while everyone else is shocked to hear when Atem is offered his own room there… Atem isn’t. Surprised, yes, but more touched than anything at the meaning of the gesture. There’s no ‘just to be polite’ afforded by Kaiba’s personality, so when he looks at him from the chair beside his in the gaming room one night when Atem mentions the hour and says “I had a room made up for you”, Atem knows he’s telling him it’s because he wants Atem to stay. Just like, when Atem tells him that it ‘makes more sense, thank you’ Kaiba can’t help the small, private smile. Because it doesn’t make more sense for practicality’s sake, Atem doesn’t live very far and none of his clothes are at the manor. He means it makes more sense because he doesn’t truly prefer to go home anyway. And all of this sits comfortably for them before so much as a first date.

This is important to the marriage headcanon because, for them, everything’s just slightly shifted in that way.

Because it feels to the both of them like they’re Together well before they are, it feels… ever-present, who they are always carrying them along that path even if they’re not On it yet. It’s there, it’s comfortable, it’s part of who they are and they don’t look for anything or anyone else outside of that feeling. But coming out with romantic intentions could disrupt that. To Atem, even if Kaiba’s interested he could still get spooked by too much too fast. And to Kaiba, after everything the thought of being turned down or Atem wanting to move out is pure agony. So by the time they’re both sure enough to share that first gentle kiss (on a business trip-turned-vacation to New York, one bad snow leading to them staying through New Years…), Atem’s already an established part of the household to everyone who lives and works there. Atem says “us” and “we” and “our” about the place, the renovations, the newly acquired art and technology. They go on what are family vacations in everything but name. Atem instructs Their personal staff, and even Isono slips and responds Yes, Mr. Kaiba by mistake one day because Atem is just….part of them now. 

And when they start to date, Atem moves his things into the master bedroom right away like he’s always been there. Because he’s always belonged there. 

(Kaiba murmurs one night, drifting close enough to sleep for unprompted sentimentality “If this is what destiny is, I think I can learn to live with it.”, and Atem almost doesn’t let him go in the morning because he’s still not.. quite done cuddling him after that. Kaiba’s fifteen minutes late, and he’s perfectly fine with that.). 

So basically… there’s a point in their relationship where Atem feels married to him even if they’re not. He has no doubts of the permanence of his place in Kaiba’s life, in their home. The commitment feeling no less important or strong without the ceremony. So for his part, Atem assumes for one reason or another- that’s exactly how Kaiba wants it. No big proclamations, just unstoppable love and devotion. And Kaiba makes him feel treasured, he can feel the fierce loyalty and care always. That devotion ringing clear and true in his endearments and caresses and gestures, in his embraces and his kisses. In how Kaiba sees the envious look just Once on Atem’s face as he spots a couple cozied in public and at least admits he Wants to do that, he just needs more time. And Atem would want to marry Kaiba, would want to exchange rings and vows and make it Official in front of their loved ones, but if he can’t then that’s okay. He doesn’t need it to feel everything he actually requires from their commitment.

So when he jokingly says he’s a bit jealous of the planetarium idea, in their dining room as they share a quiet and romantic dinner at home, the very last response he expects from Kaiba is a casual (if a bit shy) suggestion that “Well… we could always honeymoon on the new station. It is almost finished…”

And poor Kaiba hears the clatter of the fork when Atem drops it in surprise and fears the worst — that he was wrong somehow, and that Atem didn’t consider this where they were headed at all — but Atem doesn’t look anxious or put off when he finally looks up. Just caught off guard, and the look on his face is something Kaiba’s only seen when he’s surprised Atem with something huge and sweet and terribly romantic. And his “Oh?” is sort of delicately hopefully. Like Atem is the one trying not to scare Kaiba off. And Kaiba relaxes, can only smile as he realizes that maybe he wasn’t as obvious in his intentions as he thought. And Atem was going to stay with him anyway.

“If you want to.” Kaiba says. And Atem says yes more quickly than he has to anything else in his life.

(surprise number 2 comes a few months later, when Atem realizes that wasn’t even the actual proposal. protip: when a flashy billionaire proposes to you, you’ll know)

Planning a wedding is something everyone tells them will be difficult, but isn’t. They agree easily on where they want the wedding (an open space, mostly outside), what they think the color palette should be (light and happy and absolutely elegant), and how formal an affair they want. (the most) 

The few things they can’t quite agree on, like the exact band or certain foods or the flavor for the cake- they try to debate it out as reasonably as possible. Which for the edibles pretty much always means “fine, we’ll get both, and whatever is left over we’ll donate it”, and if Atem’s gotten his way a few too many times in a row then he’s just gonna have to deal with it and let Kaiba pick the band.

You may be thinking “well how much food could they possibly have to donate?” Well… haha.. hah. here’s the thing.

As nervous and unsure and careful as Kaiba is about his private romantic life at first, when he comes into his own there is No standing in his way when it comes to his relationship with Atem being another very public point of pride. Atem is gorgeous, brilliant, his equal in every way, and if you think he’s not going to bring him to every party, every press conference, just be that Will Smith gesturing at Jada Smith meme all the time? You are mistaken. By the timeSeto and Atem announce their engagement, it’s worthy of being Front Page News.

And that wedding? Is an Event. Planetarium wedding? Adorable, sure. But how about getting married in the projection stadium? Any setting Atem could possibly want, with thousands of virtual cherry blossoms in the air. Not to mention a less formal full-on festival with vendors and everything just outside for the public to enjoy.

It doesn’t hit Atem until the morning of that, for all intents and purposes, Kaiba planned a royal wedding. Yugi, meanwhile, has been pointing it out for weeks. (“I’m not sure what royal weddings looked like in your day, but this lines up with literally every fictionalized depiction I’ve ever seen.”) It’s.. a feeling when he realizes it. Lots of feelings, for lots of reason, but they’re all good. Everything about that day is just… good.

And the day itself… does not go off without a hitch, but Kaiba’s gained enough self awareness by then to know better than to leave himself in charge of it, instead delegating to Mokuba, his best man, and Yugi, who’s Atem’s. So whatever fires need to be put out are put out well before Kaiba can smell the proverbial smoke. All he needs to worry about is not sweating so much he wrinkles his crisp white suit, which is easier said than done. But Amelda’s there to help, and help he does, and Kaiba manages to make it all the way to the main platform without worrying too much that Atem will suddenly ‘come to his senses’ and not show up.

Atem, on the other hand, doesn’t worry about a single freakin thing all day. Mai helps him with his makeup (because Atem doesn’t trust strangers with his face, sorry), and Yugi gets sent off in time to help him get into his frankly stunning ensemble (complete with veil, for the dramatics), and as far as he knows Kaiba wasn’t having any measure of panic before he sees him there, the sound of a personally commissioned wedding march hovering all around them. And oh… that moment when he sees him. Kaiba’s never seen anyone so beautiful, has never smiled so sweetly in front of so many people. Atem smears just a bit of his allegedly waterproof eye makeup with how watery his eyes get, but Kaiba’s a good boy and uses his pocket square to carefully dab up so it doesn’t ruin Atem’s clearly carefully applied makeup. Atem laughs and it’s the sweetest sound anyone’s ever heard. Basically, they don’t exactly manage to wait until the end of the ceremony to kiss..

(Even Jonouchi cries a little, seeing how loved one of his best friends truly is. Especially knowing so well how rocky that road to happiness has been for Atem. Though if anyone asks Jou if he so much as sniffled, he will literally never - ever - admit it.)

And they do honeymoon in space, Kaiba taking the opportunity to maybe murmur a little ~something~ about being under the stars to his husband at their reception that’s worthy of a laugh but also a little blushing. Atem’s not even sure how the newly rebuilt space station could be even more beautiful than the one he’d observed (briefly) Kaiba in the first time, but it is. The whole place designed in a way to feel welcoming and warm, to highlight the beauty of space, and not the isolation. Their bed carefully positioned in this beautiful heavily-windowed chamber so they can see the stars… “Pillowtop,” Kaiba says, somewhat offhandedly, as he watches Atem smile in amusement at the somewhat cheesy arrangement of rose petals. Waiting for the joke to sink in.

“……spared no expense.” Atem finishes, rolling his eyes at the recurring line Kaiba had taken to throughout the entire wedding planning process, even as his smile grows.

(he almost can’t remember a time when he didn’t smile this much, laugh this much, he’s reminded as Kaiba steps in close to place a kiss on a spot on his neck he knows is ticklish) 

It’s a wonderful weekend, just the two of them, quite literally away from it all. Or, well, more honestly it’s likely a four day weekend. Or… maybe five full days off. 

Okay, okay. They probably push it to a full week. But just a week, just the 7 days… 

and maybe one long afternoon.

;3

(Astoundingly, it never comes out that they’d actually… already gotten married? About a month before the actual wedding, without telling anyone. Though, in Kaiba’s defense, Atem did look absolutely adorable that morning. Fussing with his hair, still sleepy-eyed from the early hour… how could he not at least ask? And honestly, with a proposal like that? A second proposal, at that.. How could Atem say no?)

Now, as for kids, I feel like it’d take one of their friend/s having one for Kaiba to open up about kind of wanting one of his own one day. He’s nervous about the kind of dad he’d be, but he’s always wanted to adopt a child, or two if they’re— “Siblings?” Atem asks, and Kaiba smiles a bit. “Yeah.. or close enough to be.” Atem thinks that’s wonderful, and doesn’t have any doubt that Kaiba would do an amazing job. Whenever he’s ready.

Originally, they planned to wait until they stopped feeling like total newlyweds, wanting to give themselves plenty of time to enjoy that phase of their relationship. But years pass and… that day never comes? They’re always going to be sickeningly adorable, completely infatuated, and so they’re well into their mid 20s when they decide, hey, let’s just do it. They wind up adopting a little girl, and an even littler child she calls her “baby sibling”.

They make an adorable family.

———

(If they stayed in Aaru, a lot of this would be the same. The same sort of royal affair, but by the river. Atem’s parents in attendance, and Kaiba’s mother from his past life. Mana and Mahaad and Kisara and Shada and Karim… all there. Though this time I think their idea of a honeymoon would just be to travel, to explore. Atem had never had the desire to before, but with Kaiba he’d find himself invigorated to find out how far the sands extend. What, if anything, lies on the other side. Resources are bottomless on this plane, and springs are never too far away. It’s comfortable, it’s exciting… it’s another kind of adventure than the one they’d have on earth. but in both cases, at last, an adventure together.)

———

Hope this scratched that itch, anon~ I’ve been thinking about this so much lately, it felt great to get it all out there.

Also, just fyi, it’s never spamming to me~! I love each and every one of the messages you all send in

[x-sparker]

The Honeymoon

NSFW | Part of Akihika Reboot [8.5] | Warning: not sure if dubcon? Proceed with caution

In two months’ time, Shindou’s broken arm healed well enough for the doctor to remove the cast. Hikaru had been waiting for it, because they had to postpone their honeymoon trip until his arm was better. They planned for a five-day vacation spanning across the first work week of August, so that they didn’t have to cancel the weekend classes for the kids. It fortuitously coincided with a Go event that was going to be held in Hakone, so they just booked a room at an onsen resort and went from there.

The event was a festival for local children and adult amateur Go players. Hikaru and Akira went in silently, hoping not to attract too much attention, but as Hikaru walked down the aisle between tables, the rowdy festival gradually turned quiet as heads turned and people whispered.

“Look, it’s Shindou Honinbou!” “And Touya Meijin!” “What?! Are you serious?!” “Why are they here?”

Many pairs of eyes were staring at them, most of them with awe and wonder. Some people ran off to get pen and paper for autographs. A group of people, members of the committee that hosted the event, approached them.

“Shindou-sensei! Touya-sensei!” The head of the committee exclaimed. “We weren’t expecting you! Whatever brought you here?” He turned to one of his assistants to have him bring some tea. “Go on, everyone, there is no need to stop playing!” He motioned his hands at the staring crowd.

“We’re just visiting.” Shindou shrugged, glancing over at the event-goers as they turned back to their games. He didn’t want to reveal to the stranger that they were on vacation together.

“Well, it’s an honor,” said the Committee Head. “Congratulations on defending your title fifth time in a row, Shindou-sensei. And Touya-sensei, too, for the seventh time!”

“Thank you.” Hikaru and Akira both said. Then some people approached with their pen and paper. They asked Hikaru for his autograph, but he declined, mostly because he was too embarrassed to show his horrible handwriting. He deferred the requests to Akira, who signs with a beautiful hand. He really ought to ask Akira to teach him calligraphy one of these days.

“Why don’t you come with us to the back?” The Committee Head pointed to the inner part of the venue. “You might find something interesting. We have exhibitions for Go boards and Go history.” He led the way, turning his head back as he said so. “I hate to intrude on your personal time, but may we ask you to possibly play a few teaching games later? I understand if you don’t want to, but I’m sure the event-goers would love to play you.”

“Sure.” Hikaru said. As they walked with the committee members towards the exhibition booths, they passed by someone that Hikaru recognized almost immediately. The man recognized him, too. It was that vendor from years ago, when Sai was still here, who was counterfeiting Shin-Kaya Go boards as genuine Kaya boards and swindling people out of their money under the direction of Gokiso. If Hikaru remembered correctly, he also tried to sell a Go board with a fake Shuusaku autograph.

“Oh, Shindou-sensei!” The man was sycophantic, ready to please with his disgusting toadish face. It may be hard to swallow, but the man never thought that teenage kid from years ago would end up becoming a 5-time Honinbou titleholder. He was hoping Hikaru would be a forgiving person, because defending a title five times consecutively means that he must be loaded. Oh, he would like even just a small bite of that money; it must be just spare change for the champion! “What can I do for you today? I’ve got real Kaya boards and nice Go stones made from top quality oyster shells from Europe! All genuine, I promise!”

“Don’t. Talk. To. Me,” were the four words that Hikaru said back to him. They were uttered with seething anger, while his eyes shone with an unforgiving disdain that can rival the cold light of a sword’s sharpened edge. The man could feel a literal chill run down his spine. 

“Shindou?” Akira was alarmed at Hikaru’s reaction. Shindou turned away from the man and spoke to the Committee Head.

“If I were you I would be careful about letting unscrupulous vendors into my events.” He said succinctly, then turned to his husband. “Come on, Touya. I think they want us to play a few teaching games.” He pulled Akira’s arm and tugged him back into the open hall, where most people sat playing their games.

The two of them were generous enough to play five teaching games each against different people for free. But even as he played Go, Akira’s mind lingered on Hikaru’s burst of wrath. Something must’ve happened in the past between Hikaru and that vendor. Perchance it might have something to do with Sai as well.

They left after finishing their games, and Akira decided to follow Hikaru’s wishes for the rest of the afternoon, whatever they may be. They were on their honeymoon, and Akira wanted Hikaru to be happy, seeing how upset he was. They came across a bike shop along a touristy street, and Hikaru wanted to rent two bicycles so they could ride together as they go sightseeing.

So they did, and for the first time Akira realized how much of a difference in physical strength they had. Never having an athletic streak in him, Akira ran out of breath pretty quickly, heaving in sweat as he struggled to peddle fast enough to catch up to Shindou. Hikaru, of course, cruised easily at a moderate pace; physical education was, after all, his strongest suit before he discovered Go. They biked through the idyllic town, following the curvy roads that bent down to the lake. The view by the water was beautiful, and they rested there for a while, enjoying the downtime. Then an idea came to Hikaru's mind.

"Akira, wanna race?” He asked, grinning.

"What?” Akira asked. "Why?”

"Because it'll be fun; come on!” Hikaru said, hopping onto his bicycle and taking off. 

"Wait, Shindou!” Akira yelled after him. He scrambled to get onto his bike, already struggling to catch Hikaru. "Where are we going?!” He yelled.

"Back to the bike shop!” Hikaru shouted ahead. "Whoever gets there last has to treat ice cream!”

"Are you a kid...?” Akira mumbled to himself, chasing after Hikaru despite his exasperation. His lungs were tight in his chest and his throat burned; he has never exercised so much in his life. "Shindou, wait for me!” Akira said, a phrase that he rarely ever got to say to Hikaru. And he was sure that Hikaru heard him as well, because instead of slowing down, Hikaru sped up, going faster even as they biked uphill. "Shindou!” Akira was getting angry. 

Hikaru was having a blast. The wind whipped against his face and it felt great. It was almost like he was flying, soaring through the wind. He could take it just a little further...

As Akira struggled through his heavy breathing, he looked ahead and was sent into a panic by what he saw: Hikaru had let go of the handles of his bicycle, his eyes closed and his arms outstretched as though he was catching the wind. He kept peddling forward blindly, trusting nothing but his own instincts, as if he was lifted and led by a spirit in the air. It would have been an awesome sight to see, if not for the fact that they were coming to the top of the hill where the sidewalk ends at the bend of the road, and Hikaru was headed straight into traffic.

"Shindou!!” Akira shouted, fear seizing his heart as he peddled faster, trying to catch Hikaru. He was so close, just a little bit more, but Hikaru was still out of his reach...

Hikaru's eyes snapped open and he braked hard, stopping right at the edge of the curb. The suddenness of his stop was out of Akira's expectation, and Akira was not able to brake in time, his fast speed now hurling him towards Hikaru. In the split second that followed, Akira jumped out of his bike, unable to overcome his fear of being unable to stop, and he reached for Hikaru, who caught him. Akira's bike tossed itself off into the road, barely missing the car that passed by. For the longest moment, they both stared at Akira's bike lying on the ground, its wheels still spinning, whining sadly.

"Are you out of your mind?!” Akira whipped his head back to Hikaru, yelling angrily.

Hikaru grinned, looking very sheepish indeed. "Sorry...”

"It's not funny!” Akira pinched Hikaru's elbow, then pushed him off. "You're impossible!” He scowled as he found the opportunity to go grab his fallen bicycle before it becomes a road hazard.

"Sorry!” Hikaru said again. "Touya!”

Akira huffed and ignored him, walking his bicycle down the side of the road in the direction of the bike shop. His heart was still thumping in his chest, and he felt like he had to swallow it down to calm himself.

So in the end Hikaru bought the ice creams, and they ate in silence as they walked back towards the onsen resort they stayed at, after returning the bikes and paying for the damage. Akira was still angry, silent even as they took their first bath in the large hot spring.

They had dinner in their room, and Akira was drinking a lot faster than usual. He downed his first glass of beer in one gulp, then quickly continued onto his second glass. It made Hikaru nervous.

"Touya, I'm sorry...” Hikaru said, and sighed. "I know that was kinda stupid... but I just thought... Well, I felt...” He went silent, not sure if he wanted to explain what he was feeling at the time. 

"You felt what?” For the first time, Akira responded. He looked intently at Hikaru, waiting for him to reveal his inner thoughts again. 

"I thought I felt Sai’s presence for a moment.” He said. "I thought I felt his hand holding my bike, and leading it telling me to close my eyes and trust him.”

"But you said Sai disappeared...”

"Yes, and that’s still true...” Hikaru mused. "I don't know. It's not possible anyway because he can't hold anything. Maybe there's just too much going on in my head, with what happened this morning and all.”

Akira was thinking, and took another drink of his beer. "Yeah, what happened this morning? Do you know that vendor? What did he do?”

"Oh, I know him alright.” Hikaru said, his nose scrunching in disgust as the memory resurfaced. "He used to pass off Shin-Kaya Go boards as real Kaya boards trying to make a quick buck.” He said. "He even tried to sell a Go board with a fake Shuusaku signature!” Hikaru exclaimed. "Using Sai’s and Torajirou’s names in vain... I can't forgive him!”

"...” Akira felt like he heard something about this before. "Oh, is that what Kurata-san means when he says you're the authority on Shuusaku’s signature’s genuineness?” That must have been where Kurata-san met Shindou.

"Uh... yeah.” Hikaru scratched the back of his head. "Because Sai was so upset when he saw that bastard defrauding innocent people who didn't know better!”

"I see...” Akira said, and smiled gently. "Sai really was a kind person, wasn't he?” He remarked, finishing his beer. A Go player who can tell Shin-Kaya apart from real Kaya, and feel injustice even for people who are less knowledgeable about Go, must be a genuine and respectable character. 

"Yeah, of course he was!” Hikaru said, and drank some of his own beer. He eyed Akira, who was eating a fresh piece of sashimi from his plate, and felt a little relieved. It seemed like Akira wasn't mad at him anymore. 

"The food is good, huh?” He tried, untangling his legs under the table and inching them closer to Akira's. Akira didn't get mad; he nodded, chewing silently and pouring himself yet another glass of beer. "Aren't you drinking a little fast?” 

"Leave me be.” Akira said, and took another sip. Hikaru watched; at the rate he's going, he’ll pass out before they have a chance to do anything tonight. Even at his normal pace, Akira isn't the strongest when it comes to alcohol. His face was already starting to glow. Hikaru wondered what he was playing at. 

"Don't drink too much; you're gonna regret it when you get a hangover.” He said. 

"But I never get hangovers.” Akira said, challenging. "Nice try, Shindou.”

"Pffft, that's only ‘cause you've never drank enough to have one.” Shindou mocked, because he had that experience. They get pretty crazy at Waya’s place sometimes. 

"You don't believe me?” Akira rebutted, now finishing his third glass. Is that a challenge Shindou heard in his tone?

"Are you gonna try to prove me wrong?” Shindou straightened up, sounding defiant himself. 

"I will.” Akira said as he poured himself another glass. He poured some more into Hikaru's glass too. "Should we see who will go down first?”

"Don't, Akira.” Shindou said. He simply knew that on this matter, he was stronger than Akira. He had already tested his own limits when hanging out with Waya and Isumi and knew exactly where they were. Akira never went anywhere even close to that. If Akira drank as much as it took for Hikaru to pass out... he'll never make it. It'll get dangerous. "You'll never win.”

"Try me.” Akira said, and starting downing his glass. This is way more than he is used to, but he was surprised at the pleasant buzzing feeling, like his head was floating. This may be more fun than he had expected.

"Okay, that's enough.” Hikaru said, trying to grab the glass from Akira's hand, but Akira smacked his hand away, gulping down the rest of it. "Touya! That's your fourth glass!” He's never had this many before. Hikaru was usually around to make sure he didn't overdo it, because he knew Akira wasn't very good at holding his liquor. 

"Don't underestimate me.” Akira said, though it was obvious he was losing his composure. "I can still go...” He was ready to pour himself another glass, the bottle still having its last third. But Hikaru wouldn't let him, and took the bottle out of his hand. Then Akira tried to fight him for it, and Hikaru decided to gulp its contents all in one go in order to stop him. 

"There, no more.” He waved the empty bottle in front of Akira.

"Shindou!” Akira complained, frowning, but his body was wavering unsteadily, so Hikaru knew he made the right choice. He wondered what's gotten into Akira tonight.

"Shh, keep it down.” Hikaru said. Akira pouted (yes, he actually pouted), a childish frown across his face as he tried to glare at Hikaru. It didn’t quite work, his face and lips all pink from the alcohol, his mouth slightly agape. Hikaru felt heat rising to his head. “I'm gonna go take a second bath.” He quickly said, straightening his yukata to get up. 

"Wait, I'll come with you.”

"No, you stay here.” He said to Akira. He's had too much to drink and going into a hot spring in his state will only make the alcohol run around faster and make it worse. "And don't go outside.” He added; he didn't want Akira hurting himself or running into someone. He went to the closet and grabbed the futon prepared by the resort, laying it out so Akira can rest in it. Akira sat still by the table, watching Hikaru, his head getting heavy in his palm. When Hikaru was done, he turned to Akira only to find that the man had dozed off, somehow managing to keep sitting exactly in that position. Hikaru sighed, but did not try to wake him up, feeling responsible for not stopping Akira earlier. Then finally for the first time today, he reached for Akira’s face and kissed his forehead softly.

"I'll be right back.” He whispered inaudibly. "Wait for me.”

By the time Shindou came back from his second bath, Akira was laying in the futon, barely coherent. Worried, Hikaru sat by his husband, sliding a hand up his forehead to feel for his temperature. Akira’s skin was warm to the touch, and he smelled like hops.

“Touya, are you okay?” Hikaru asked when Akira mumbled under his touch, shifting to face Hikaru.

“Shindou…” His voice was catlike, and his hand reached up Hikaru’s arm by instinct. “My head hurts…”

“Yeah, what did you think was gonna happen?” Hikaru said, a little angrily. “I told you not to drink so much.”

“It’s hot…” Akira said, his voice now whining, his hand squeezing Hikaru’s arms.

“Well let go of me, then! You’ll just make it worse!” Hikaru said as he pried Akira’s hands from his arms, putting them down by his side. Akira didn’t fight it, but continued to mumble in discomfort. Hikaru could see he was red through his neck, down to his chest. Sighing, he untied the obi around Akira’s waist, hoping to loosen his yukata and give him some breathing space to cool down. But precisely as he opened the lapel of Akira���s robe, he got a glimpse down and discovered (perhaps to his doom) that his husband was, indeed, very much aroused.

“Oi, Touya…” Shindou felt challenged for the nth time tonight. “Do you have any idea what kind of dangerous position you’ve left yourself in…?”

“Hm…? What danger?” Akira asked, not truly comprehending anything at the moment. His eyes slid open thinly and he gazed at Shindou. “You’re here, aren’t you?” His hands once again reached up to Shindou to pull him down, wrapping his arms trustingly around him.

“Why, you…” Shindou gritted his teeth. Akira can be very trying at times. “Is this an invitation?” He asked as Akira continue to wrap himself around Shindou like ivy growing on a tree trunk. Hikaru could feel his own sanity slipping.

“Shindou…” Akira said softly, and then he went quiet. Hikaru blinked, wondering what happened, before he heard soft snores from the man who was now solidly locked around him. Hikaru felt something snap, then either out of his frustration or his anger, he reached down without hesitation and made contact with Akira’s arousal.

Akira let out a soft yelp, suddenly awake now. His breathing was quick, hitching as he shut his legs together, his toes curling around the sheets. His hands gripped Hikaru’s shoulder tightly, leaving angry red marks on the skin through the fabric of his yukata. “Shindou…!”

“Do you want me to stop?” Hikaru asked, his voice getting husky. Akira shook his head against Hikaru’s shoulder. Hikaru pressed a hand against the back of Akira’s waist. “Then relax.”

Slowly, Akira let go of the tenseness in his muscles, and then he was a pool of weak limbs under Hikaru’s hands, defenseless and open. Hikaru lowered themselves so they were both laying on the futon, softly kissing Akira in the process.

It didn’t take very long for Akira to lose it. He moaned against Hikaru’s lips, his hips bucking up into Hikaru’s hand. Blood was pumping fast through his body, pounding in his head. His arms held onto Hikaru still.

“Touya… this is bad. We should stop; you’re drunk.” Hikaru said as he tried to pull himself away. Where did they put that box of tissue?

"No…” Akira refused, his arms closing around Hikaru. "Don’t go! Don’t leave again…” His voice cracked, and he sounded like he was about to cry.

"Okay, okay, okay…” Hikaru cooed as he was pulled into a suffocating hug. "I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here. Don’t start crying…” He said, and only then did Akira calm down and loosen his grip a little. Hikaru sighed; it feels like he’s babysitting a big adult, and it is tiring.

"Shindou…” Akira looked at Hikaru expectantly. "Are you gonna…?”

Hikaru gave Akira a discerning look, and shook his head, kissing Akira’s forehead. "No. You’re too drunk. You’ll hate me for it when you sober up.”

"No I won’t…” Akira said softly. He would never hate Shindou, drunk or sober.

"That’s the alcohol talking.” Hikaru said. When Akira said nothing in return, but continued to gaze at him, Hikaru smirked. "Or are you inviting…?”

“…” Akira frowned. He didn’t like being put on the spot. If this is how Shindou wants to play… “If you’re not gonna do it then I will do it myself. It’s either your hands or mine, so which is it, Shindou Hikaru?” He sounded incredibly sober when he said that, so much so that it surprised Hikaru.

”…Damn it, Touya…” Hikaru groaned, getting onto his knees and pulling Akira with him. “Just my hands and nothing more, mind you!”

Akira supposed that he should be grateful that Hikaru was so proper about this. He was partly hoping to make inviting easier when he chose to down all that beer, but it seemed like a bad idea now that it’s backfiring and making Hikaru hold back.

"Just a second…” Hikaru said as he went to find their lube. Akira laid flat on his stomach, his eyes downcast as he waited with a pounding heart. He heard the sound of the bottle opening, and glanced back at Hikaru as the latter poured some of the stuff onto his hands. Akira waited with anticipation as Hikaru lifted the edge of his yukata, his eyes never wavering as they looked into Shindou’s, and it was enough to make Hikaru blush nearly as red as Akira was.

To hide his embarrassment, Hikaru leaned forward to kiss Akira, sliding his hand under Akira’s yukata at the same time to make his move. Akira gasped, feeling the cold digit sliding in. He folded his arms together and rested them on the pillow, dropping his forehead against them. He sighed, his body relaxing.

Hikaru watched closely as he worked his finger around; it was almost like giving a massage, just a different kind. He slipped in a second finger after a while, and Akira didn’t even notice, while his other hand found its way to the front, massaging the other part. Low moans escaped from Akira’s throat intermittently as he indulged in the comfortable gratification of Hikaru’s administrations.

“Touya…” Hikaru whispered, and increased his speed, pressing harder with his fingers. He knew he’s found the spot when Akira’s noises got louder. It was getting harder for Hikaru to hold his own.

“Ah…” Akira drawled, inhaling sharply as his body went rigid.

“Keep breathing, Touya.” Hikaru said, shifting so he could bend his body over Akira’s, allowing him to lean closer and his fingers to get deeper in. Akira obliged, but knew that his limit was near again. Hikaru got a face full of the remaining faint boozy smell from Akira’s skin, reminding him of just how much Akira had to drink tonight. “Touya… I don’t think I can do this anymore…”

Akira glanced back, and saw that Hikaru looked nearly as intoxicated as he was, but not from alcohol; rather, from the way Akira was behaving. “Then just do it…” He said.

Hikaru frowned, and, though grumbling, removed his hands and knelt up to take off his yukata. It felt like the whole night was going at Akira’s pace, and Hikaru had been completely led on by him. “Are you sure about this?” He asked one more time.

At this point, Akira was inclined to glare at Shindou. “Yes.” He said simply, his eyes audacious and daring as he held Hikaru in his gaze. Hikaru had made him wait long enough. Sighing, Hikaru leaned forward to kiss Akira once again, his hands pushing Akira’s yukata off, tossing it aside. Their bodies connected, quietly, as they shared their kiss. Hikaru started moving after they pulled apart, and Akira was back to muffling his cries with the pillow.

Hikaru pinned Akira’s wrists to the sheets to give himself some leverage when moving. In turn, Akira’s fingers instinctively wrapped around Hikaru’s wrists. Their movement felt like sailing on the open sea, pulling and pushing, pulling and pushing. The rise took longer than usual, as though they were on a journey together, moving forward at the same pace slowly so that they can savor the best of it.

“Shindou…” Akira whimpered, all of his senses heightened because of his intoxication. He might be closer to the end than he’d thought, a simmering need for release bubbling along all of his nerves.

“Just a moment, Akira…” Shindou said, then his eyes cracked open to look at his husband. Akira had been staring at him, his head pressed against the pillow, his eyes looking sultry and getting more erotic every moment. It was as if Akira had been waiting, like he did all those years ago, and then suddenly Hikaru felt sorry to have kept him waiting. He picked up his pace, lowering his body so that he can encircle Akira with his arms. Akira sighed appreciatively, finding solace in Hikaru’s presence.

It was an unusual type of orgasm they had together, a mellow, quiet, and smooth one, marked by a gradual rising wave and lasting duration. Heat radiated from the tangle that was their bodies as they breathed, with nothing but the sound of their beating hearts to accompany them. When they opened their eyes, and looked into each other, on the same breath they said, “That wasn’t enough.”

Then they chuckled, and Hikaru kissed the spot above Akira’s right eye. "That’s ok.” He said. “We have the whole night ahead of us…”

[squeemcsquee]

QuadCon Peoria, June 2021

So. One weekend, two conventions. Just a nice boost of escapism and fun that I have sorely missed in the last year and change.

So once I was done viewing the Cogs & Corsets panel that I attended on Saturday, @lechevaliermalfet​ and I headed out for QuadCon Peoria, June 2021 edition. 

Let me begin by saying that I would really love to see more conventions use the Civic Center. I don’t really know what kind of costs that would entail – QuadCon said the Center essentially donated the day to them. But it really can handle crowds, has an excellent space for a vendor area, etc. I think the one issue would be panel rooms, though I’m pretty sure there are conference rooms in the center somewhere. And parking. That could be an issue. We actually ended up parking on the far side of the building and had to walk all the way around to the entry we needed.

Still, though. Having to walk around the building to get in and to get back to the van when we left made me notice all the various places that I’m sure cosplayers would love to get their photo taken. And spaces where people would just hang out.

Maybe someday…

Once we got to the entry, we noticed that QuadCon had changed things up a bit. In the past, we paid our fee ($5 or less) and got a handstamp, and were good to go. This year, they were selling actual tickets and insisting on a wrist stamp. So you could be verified either way. And with the new placement of the stamp, mine was still going strong by the end of the day. Or, at least, still visible.

QuadCon adhered to CDC guidelines, recommending masks, but not requiring them of anyone fully vaccinated. They did not insist on seeing anything to verify vaccination status.

We did go maskless, but it was honestly a little more unsettling doing so at QuadCon than at Cogs and Corsets, because there were greater opportunities for crowds to gather for events.

Once we walked in, it was a little overwhelming, in a good way. Cogs & Corsets vendor selection had been extremely small – QuadCon, on the other hand, is a very vendor-heavy event, and this time was no exception. A few of our friends were vending, so we made sure to visit their booths during the day.

What I hadn’t expected – probably because the last QuadCon had been at the local mall and was more of a nerd market – was for the day to be an actual con. I never saw a posted schedule, but there were panels, a charity auction, gaming tournaments, costume contest, and cosplayer parade.

It was all being held in one of the Civic Center’s Expo Halls. On the one hand, that was great – these halls often accommodate car shows, home improvement expos, etc. So there is more than enough room to spread out and allow people to browse and practice social distancing. And it really made QuadCon feel almost like wandering around a much larger event, like ACen or Otakon in that sense – though both of those would probably be far more packed. But the feeling was nice.

The downside is that, with everything in one room, they ran into the same issue as PeoriaCon. How do you isolate a panel area? Gaming? Cosplay?

Not entirely well, as it turns out. We did not attend any of the panels – in part because we didn’t know when they were happening, and in part because there weren’t many chairs set up. And the panes were just at the end of a row of vendors, so there was noise from foot traffic, etc. Though it did look like the panelists at least had a microphone.

We also didn’t participate in the gaming area at all. To be honest, I’m not 100% certain which corner of the room it was in? We may have passed it by and literally not noticed it. My guess is it was a smaller area.

We caught the last bit of the charity auction as we waited around for the cosplay contest.  We did attend the cosplay contest, but the stage was probably only about a foot high. So if you were a shorter person (like me), the odds of actually seeing what was happening or getting a decent photo were sort of lousy. I have a lot of photos like the one below, sadly.

I don’t recall them making this clarification before, but QuadCon’s cosplay contest is largely a craftsmanship contest. There were several accomplished cosplayers acting as the judges for the event. I checked QuadCon’s site but it also isn’t mentioned there. So just a heads-up if you plan on participating in one.

They run their contests in two divisions: Kids and Adult.

As is normal for QuadCon, after the cosplay contest, they issued a call for all cosplayers to participate in one giant photo together. There was unfortunately no way I was able to get a complete photo of everyone, due to being short and the area being crowded.

After that, they led the cosplayers in a cosplay parade, as an additional chance to show off.

By the end of the day, we left with a fair number of purchases, footsore and hungry, but happy. That really felt like a con. Oh, and yes, there was Pokemon Go.

[johnnypovolny]

Lima (A big disorganized hodgepodge of memories...)

-I bought a surfboard! The other day I successfully paddled all the way out in the weaker current near the dock (which is still scary because you have to avoid getting pushed under the pylons of the restaurant) and into the large break way out offshore and catching like a 10-12 foot wave, easily the biggest wave I’ve ever surfed, so that was super exciting. It’s also just beautiful watching the fish jump and the cormorants dive for small fry, the sunset behind the islands off the coast, and the evening swarm of paragliders on the cliffs of the Malecon.

-I’m starting to make friends: I have a group of guys I met at the outdoor workout equipment in the Malecon who train together (and the group is growing). Our whatsapp group chat is nicknamed Los Hermanos Sudados (the sweaty brothers), which i think is hilarious (mostly because it was my idea). The guy I’m closest with (Jhon, a personal trainer from Venezuela) invited me to the beach with his wife and some friends last weekend and afterward we had dinner on the open air patio at their house and played cards. I also spend a lot of time with my neighbors Andres and Ricky, and have been on a couple of fun dates with girls I met at the surfing beach.

- A lot of the fancy/expensive restaurants that are on the 50 best list (Astrid Y Gaston, Osso)  are very good but in my opinion not worth the big tab or the hype. The really impressive food for me has been at the more economical places like the dumpling tacos at Bao, fresh fruit, chupe, and ceviche in the Mercado Surquillo, lomo saltado in the menu del dia places, and the sandwiches and juices (pina or mango and grenadilla) at El Enano and El Chinito. Though my pumpkin risotto and pollo saltado at Tanta was incredible: that’s probably been my favorite higher-end meal.

-People here love grey Scottish terriers. I’m not sure if this dog is like a fashion or status symbol but they seem to be everywhere (like Subarus in Portland.)

-I live about 2 blocks from Parque Kennedy (the unofficial heart of Miraflores) and there are always people walking, buskers (watched an amazing group of 4 female singers kiling a harmony), street vendors selling sandwiches and anticuchos, and of course the wild cats (yeah, cats) that live in the park and are cared for by the people of the city. The city has a really live energy in general. There’s a bustle that makes it feel a little bit like if New York City was a surf town. So far, there’s literally nothing I don’t like about this town. The food is incredible, the prices are cheap, my apartment is amazing, the weather (and the women) are gorgeous, the sea is close by, and the people here are the most friendly I’ve met in my travels since Thailand. Everyone is helpful, kind, and extremely open to being friends right away (and the old ladies in the market call me “papito” and “mi amor”, which I find extremely adorable and welcoming). And in addition, I just really feel connected to the place I’m living, which is really fun- for the first time in my travels I have like my own place to live, walk past and greet the same people multiple days in a row (like the lady who sells arroz con leche, I need to learn her name). The one thing I haven’t really done much of is explore the nightlife, so I’m excited to make that happen soon!

-One evening, Fernanda (a friend from my surf beach) and I went to Malabar, the 38th best restaurant in Latin America. It’s a concept started by a chef called Pedro Miguel Schiaffino that focuses on recreating dishes from around the world using ingredients from the amazon and on avoiding preservatives, dyes, etc to create totally natural dishes. FINALLY, a high end restaurant that was worth the price tag! To me the fun of the meal was the contrast: in types and strengths of flavors (explosive strength from produce, subtle aromatics from herbs, etc), textures, and even temperatures. We had 6 things: Tika Masalu: a “banana ceviche”, raw sweet banana topped with cherry tomatoes, an aromatic herb that had a little bit of a thai/vietnamese food vibe, salty dried banana leafs that reminded me of nori, and a bright yellow sweet sauce. Jamon de Paiche: a cured “ham” made from the paiche, which is a giant amazonian river fish that gets to be between 7 and 15 feet long as an adult. Pato in Aji Negro: a braised or roasted leg of duck and a strip of rare seared duck meat with blackberries, more tiny herbs, a rich brown reduction, and some sort of crunchy roasted and crushed nut that also seemed like it would be really good in a desert with chocolate and caramel. Cocolon: AMAZING. A salty, savory, intensely flavorful stew of rice then fried in a large patty so the outside got crispy, served with shrimp, this sort of pork jerky, fried banana, and a “chorizo” (again made from paiche), and a drizzled in reduction/gravy made from the accompaniments. This is what I’ve always wished paella would taste like: something more approaching jambalaya. in terms of flavor intensity, but savory instead of spicy. Chocolate dessert (can’t remember the name) : A dense pastry of some sort of crumbly rust topped in a squishy white sweet filling (maybe coconut based?) and topped with a dome of dark chocolate but done with almost the squishy, pleasantly resistant texture of marshmallow. On the side was a crunchy roast nut that tasted kind of like caramel corn. This was one of my favorite contrasts of the night: the gooey chocolate-marshmallow texture with the crunch of the nuts. Coco y Pina: a coconut shell served with a sort of creamy, sweet flan made from coconut. The flan was served piping hot with a citrusy, bright, and freezing cold dollop of pineapple ice cream on the top and a drizzle of some sort of thin, sweet, brown sauce (might have just been simple syrup made from brown sugar). The contrast of this was insane also, hot, creamy flan and cold, tart ice cream. I also had a very passable old fashioned, which after months of not drinking any good whiskey was so welcome. Fer had a really cool drink made from gin with citrus  juices, some sort of salty ingredient derived from cacao, and aromatic herbs in it, served tall: really complex and delicious. It was also really nice to have company, someone to agree with me and debate with me on the food, share the experience, and swap stories and chat together while we enjoyed. 5 STARS FOR DINNER AT MALABAR. 

-My buddy Joanie that I met doing the salt flats tour in Bolivia came into town this week and we met up to go to the Parque de Las Aguas with some of the people from her hostel. The park is this huge greenspace with tons of different fountains, including a traditional circular one with arcing jets and a parthenon-esque backdrop, a tunnel of jets you can walk through, and a huge row of vertical jets that are lit up in rainbow colors and then every hour perform a show where videos of peruvian people and destinations are projected onto a curtain of fine mist, the jets performed dances of color change and movement, and lazer lights are used to create 3D animals and shapes in the curtain of water. We had a really good time walking around exploring (and in the harrowing cab ride on the way there, where we were nearly compressed between two buses merging towards each other), then afterward we got some mexican food near parque Kennedy. Super nice to see my friend again! 

-Went surfing on Saturday and got two of the best waves of my life, back to back: they were still green when I caught them (fast moving swell that hasn’t crested and broken yet) so I got the amazing feeling of riding down the steep face from the top as the wave as it broke and then turning to chase unbroken portions of the face, pushing down with my weight to stay on the wave as it got less strong and then feeling following waves catch up and pick my speed up again. I rode probably 150 meters on each one and it felt so amazing- I finally felt like a real surfer for the first time. I love that “aha” moment in sports, music, etc- when you’ve been putting time and effort into something really difficult and you get the first glimpses of what it feels like to actually succeed. Amazing. After my session, Fernanda and I went to go watch the Neon Night, a night time surfing championship, lit up by the huge on the water at Playa Roquitas. We got there in time to watch the women’s and then the men’s finals. SO COOL. The guys especially were insane to watch: they absolutely charge along the face of the waves, stomping over and over to gain speed, and the curving up to leap off the top of the cresting wave and spin 3’s and even 5’s, impossibly landing and riding out in the whitewater. There was stage set up with a neon background and huge spotlights going into the sky and we watched a local band from Chorrillos (pretty well known based on the number of people singing along) perform a sort of rock-reggae-latin blend that I really enjoyed (I don’t like pure reggae very much but this was enough of a mix that it was really enjoyable and fit the tone of the event really well).

-Andres taught me to cook lomo saltado: cube the meat and rub with salt, pepper, and cumin. Add to a pot with sliced onion, tomato, soy sauce, and a splash of pisco or beer, stew down! Make rice and fry potato wedges and eat everything together!

-Got a couple more really good waves recently- I’m starting to be able to occasionally catch a wave as it crests and really drop into it from the top, which is a crazy sensation- I went one day when the waves were huge (we got a safety advisory text from the city of Lima civil defense service to stay off the beach because of abnormally large waves and all the surfers were like “nahhhh.. We’re getting in”). Caught a wave that like fell out from under me and it was amazing! 

-Hung out with Sam and Erin a couple times when they were in town: once we got lunch in Mercado Surquillo and then in the evening met up with them and Fernanda to go out for many different beers and play ride the bus. Another time met up with them and their friends Kirsten and Nick to have beers at Nuevo Mundo, drink more beers at their hostel, and go to Chifa Hou Wha all together for a big chinese food extravaganza. I like all four of those Kiwis- they’re immensely open, interesting, and lovely people. I especially love to talk to Sam- he’s one of those people who just has tons of information and cool stories about the things he’s passionate about, and we have a ton of interests in common.

-Had a day of surfing where I met an older guy named Pablo, who’s a farmer and has a duck hatchery and almost got robbed on the highway one time. Caught some amazing waves including one where i was like pumping and riding along the face all the way to the end of the right break, screaming and hollering the whole time and afterwards he was impressed that I’ve only been surfing for a few months because I’m already standing up quickly! It was a day where I felt really in control and felt all the practice I’ve done paying off!

-OSKAKA: This is the best restaurant in Lima. I went solo the first time and had an amazing experience: an amazing drink with this sort of crushed pink sorbet on the top, steak and quail egg nigiri, shrimp nigiri with parmesan, ceviche made from smoked tuna and crispy sweet potato and these little balls of something that looked like salmon roe but green and with a yuzu ponzu sauce that will haunt me for the rest of my life, incredible slow cooked ribs, mixed seafood sauteed in spicy japanese butter served in shells on a bed of rocks interspersed salt on fire (yes, on fire), and so many other good things. I liked it so much that Sammya and I went back like a week later and had about 8 more things. Some highlights that I hadn’t tried before were a salmon and shrimp roll with this citrusy, creamy white sauce poured all over it that was insane and a spicy whitefish nigiri. I also had this drink that was like a rum old fashioned and came served out of a barrel over a ball of cacao ice (super tasty but not too different, just really loved the presentation). I had the same server (Leslie) both times, who was fantastic, and sat at the sushi bar where you can watch all the prep happening, so it’s like dinner and a show. Both times I went here, I left feeling that for once I got my money’s worth at a high end restaurant. 

-I watched Peru play a Copa America game on a big screen set up in the street next to parque kennedy and loved that experience- it’s fun to experience this part of the world has for the sport. I also watched a few games (including a Colombia match) at El Parcero- it’s a Colombian bar so when they scored things went WILD and the sassy lady next to me kept pouring me tequila shots from their bottle service

-Close to the end of the trip, Andres invited me to this event in Chorrillos called The Toro Fest. Earlier in the day, for which I didn’t make it in time, there was bullfighting (Ricky participated and almost got stabbed with a horn). Then in the evening when I arrived (with Andrea, a really cool, down to earth girl I met and danced with when I went out to the bars in Barranco with an American friend named Nate), there was this competition happening in a little ring surrounded by crowded plywood bandstands lit by a string of warm yellow bulbs hanging along the top railing. First was singers, then drummers, then dancers. Basically people from the crowd would sign up and on your turn you had to go in, chug a beer, and then perform in the thing you’d signed up for. After watching you the crowd would be asked “Se queda o se va?” (“Should they stay or should they go?”) and roar its judgement. It was really fun- there was a guy with a huge afro who played the cajon like crazy and then a pair of dancers where the guy was a professional and was such a good lead got paired with a really talented girl who could follow super well, so they looked completely choreographed after never having danced together before. Andrea and I drank some beers and had a blast watching everyone- I wanted to join the singing competition but it was ending when we arrived. After the competition, everyone headed over to the main stage where we got to watch a live salsa band (apparently a super well known peruvian group)- a huge group of latino guys of various ages with horns and percussion in jean jackets, led by this high-energy black singer with a shaved head. They were awesome- It felt so much more electric dancing to a live group, we danced a ton and had a blast!

Overall- I really loved this city. I maybe stayed a little too long, but it was a lovely place of food, friendship, and adventure. 

[itsworn]

Holley LS Fest Opens With Biggest Attendance Ever—Highlights

Nobody could have guessed back in 2010 that Holley’s very first LS Fest would turn out to be such a big deal, but it has become the definition of huge. LS Fest was born all those years ago to provide hot rodders a forum for fans of the Gen III LS1 and its variants. Over the years, GM has updated and improved the engine and introduced new versions (the Gen IV rectangle-port), eventually switching to direct injection for the LT1 (Gen V). The public responded vigorously and Holley was there to feed the need.

Holley proves out every piece they design and manufacture through a series of company- and employee-owned vehicles. Many are on display at Holley’s booth in the LS Fest manufacturer’s midway.

Perhaps even more remarkable than Holley’s nine-year run with the LS Fest (held at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY each September), is the fact that GM’s modern-day small-block V8 has become so ubiquitous. With cores selling for just a few hundred dollars, literally anybody can afford to get involved; Holley believes in this as if the company’s future depends on it. That level of devotion has produced an impressive array of products, with more coming every month.

Holley’s most recent project is this early ’70s Olds Omega—the sibling to the Nova. Its modest 5.3L LS is plumbed with Holley’s new cast-iron turbo exhaust manifold kit, crossover pipe, single-plane intake, and Super Sniper EFI. With some creative trading, you could build one like this for $10k – $15k. It ran 9.60s at over 140 mph on its first run today.

Like we said, this year’s event (September 7 – 9, 2018) is proving to be the biggest ever. While attendance has yet to be officially counted, this year is the first time Beech Bend Raceway has had to open the neighboring camp ground at Beech Bend Park to handle the racer and spectator overflow.

Donks with real power are a thing now, and this 1973 Caprice is proof. Built by Will Frazier in memory of his son, Tristen, it features a 1,350hp LS7 with a Magnuson 2300-series blower.

One of the secrets to the success of Holley LS Fest is the overwhelming number of things to do. Besides the car show and 10 drag racing classes, there is an impressive manufacturer’s midway, autocross, dyno challenge, drifting, burnout competition, True Street, road course laps, and the Car Craft Bolt-On Challenge. If that’s still not enough, you can take a tour of the National Corvette Museum down the street.

Another thing that’s a “thing” now is the V12 LS by V12LS.com. Now leaps and bounds beyond the company’s initial effort with two blocks welded together, V12LS.com offers iron V12 blocks, alloy V12 blocks, cylinder heads, camshafts, crankshafts—even complete short- and long-blocks.

One thing we notice every year at Holley LS Fest is that non-GMs are adopting the LS in increasing numbers. Much to the consternation of Brand-X lovers, non-denominational hot rodders have taken up the LS flag. We saw tons of Fords, AMCs, Pontiacs, Dodges—even Volvos—packing the Chevy V8, and each one of them is a work of art. None of it, however, would be possible without the help of Holley and many other attending vendors who serve the market. Swapping an LS into a car or truck not designed for it means fabricating or inventing a daunting number of components—or at least it used to mean that. Holley and the rest of the industry has responded with a raft of problem solvers, including accessory drives, intake manifolds, headers, exhaust manifolds, wiring harnesses, tuning services, CAN bus gauges, motor mounts, cross members, and oil pans.

When you think of slick LS-powered vehicles, you don’t normally think of a 1953 Nash Country Club—unless you’re 76-year-old Dennis Quin (Washington, IL). Dennis was a body and paint man for 55 years before retiring, and built the car himself from a Chris Alston chassis kit. Dig the classic-look Inglese IR set-up!

We’ll be back tomorrow to dig deeper into the drag racing, the Car Craft Bolt-On Challenge, and the insane car show, so stay tuned!

Check out 2018 Holley LS Fest East on social media! Facebook: @lsfest Instagram: @holleyperformance  #lsfest Twitter: @holley_news

Nick Barath of Seymour, TN put together this 2008 Ford Crown Vic with a 5.3L from a trashed 2004 Chevy Tahoe. It won’t be long before Nick’s son, Carter, is spinning wrenches too!

Few engine guys know as much about airflow and LS engines in particular as Brian Tooley Racing. BTR displayed some rapid-prototype manifold designs built on a 3D printer; note the quarter-scale two-piece intake in front of the variable-runner plenum.

An LS-swap isn’t that unusual at LS Fest, and this 66 Ford Fairlane has a Magnuson blower atop some form of LS (the hood was closed so we don’t know exactly). What makes it unusual is the Mopar pistolgrip shifter with a six-speed shift pattern on the shift knob!

A favorite of ours was this 1977 Chevy Malibu Wagon, built by David Peters of Herron, IL. The father of six built it with a 5.3L from an ’07 Silverado, ostensibly to take his family on some amazing trips. “I rode 3,800 miles to Canada and back in the third-row seat,” laughs Garrett, David’s 19-year-old son. Dig the rare 1975 Laguna slant nose!

Holley’s newest product was on display at LS Fest, and you are the first folks to see it. This cathedral-port single-plane intake is built in two parts that allow the engine builder to port the inside. Another piece in the center is a 4150-to-throttle-body adapter that allows EFI-style throttle bodies to bolt to any 4150 intake.

The post Holley LS Fest Opens With Biggest Attendance Ever—Highlights appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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